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Press Conference by the Deputy Press Secretary, 26 April 2012

  1. Fourth Mekong-Japan Summit
  2. Summit Meetings between Japan and Cambodia, Viet Nam and Myanmar
  3. Meeting between Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Meeting between Minister Gemba and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia
  4. Appointment of Mr. Yukio Takasu as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Management

1. Fourth Mekong-Japan Summit

Deputy Press Secretary Ms. Naoko Saiki: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to start with several announcements.

Ms. Saiki: First on the Fourth Mekong-Japan Summit Meeting. On 21 April, the fourth meeting between the Heads of the Governments of Japan and Mekong region countries was held in Tokyo. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Prime Minister of Lao People's Democratic Republic, President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, and Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. For reference, we have distributed to you a text of "Tokyo Strategy 2012", which was adopted in the meeting. This strategy, "Tokyo Strategy 2012", replaces the "Tokyo Declaration", which was adopted at the first Mekong-Japan Summit Meeting in 2009. This new strategy puts forward a future vision for the region and establishes new pillars of Mekong-Japan cooperation. The new pillars will develop a "New Partnership for the Common Flourishing Future" between the Mekong region countries and Japan, and will contribute to the establishment of ASEAN Community.

A new Action Plan will be established in place of the "Mekong-Japan Action Plan 63" at a future ministerial level meeting. That new Action Plan will elaborate concrete actions and measures of Mekong-Japan cooperation.

As for the new pillars of Mekong-Japan cooperation, would you please refer to the second page? Here, you will find pillar 1: "Enhancing Mekong Connectivity"; pillar 2: "Developing Together". And, on the next page, pillar 3: that is, "Ensuring Human Security and Environmental Sustainability".

At the meeting, Japan presented the list of major infrastructure projects, which will contribute to the development of the Mekong region countries, estimated to amount to approximately 2.3 trillion yen. Furthermore, Japan expressed its intention to implement the official development assistance of approximately 600 billion yen through yen loans, grant aid, and technical cooperation in the three years starting from the next fiscal year.

2. Summit Meetings between Japan and Cambodia, Viet Nam and Myanmar

Ms. Saiki: Second, on summit meetings between Japan and Cambodia, Viet Nam, and Myanmar, respectively, which took place on the sidelines of the Fourth Mekong-Japan Summit Meeting.

On 21 April, Prime Minister Noda held a meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen of the Kingdom of Cambodia. With this year marking the 20th anniversary of the reopening of the Japanese Embassy in Cambodia, they affirmed their determination to further strengthen cooperation on various issues between the two countries. Also, they discussed promotion of investment, economic cooperation, cultural/human exchanges, and cooperation in the international arena.

On the same day, 21 April, Prime Minister Noda held another meeting with Prime Minister Dung of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to discuss bilateral relations, such as economic cooperation and economic relations, and regional/international situations.

Again, on the same day, 21 April, Prime Minister Noda also held a meeting with President Thein Sein of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues. In the meeting, Prime Minister of Japan welcomed the measures taken by the Government of Myanmar toward democratization and national reconciliation, notably by elections of 1 April, as well as various political and economic reforms. Prime Minister Noda also expressed Japan's commitment of continuing to support Myanmar's efforts in order to encourage Myanmar to take further positive steps. President Thein Sein appreciated Japan's commitment to assisting Myanmar's efforts in democratization, national reconciliation, and economic reform, and expressed his strong commitment to continuing its reform efforts, as well as commitment to further strengthening bilateral relations between Japan and Myanmar.

Prime Minister Noda further announced that the Government of Japan had reviewed its assistance policy toward Myanmar and would restart its extensive assistance. To be more specific, in order to support Myanmar's efforts for reforms in various areas toward its democratization, national reconciliation, and sustainable development, Japan will extend economic cooperation focusing on the following areas, while continuously observing the progress of these efforts so that a wide range of the people can enjoy the benefits from the dividends of democratization, national reconciliation, and economic reforms: improvement of people's livelihood; capacity-building, development of systems and institutions to sustain economy and society; and development of infrastructure and related systems necessary for the sustainable economic development.

3. Meeting between Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Meeting between Minister Gemba and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia

Ms. Saiki: Now I would like to touch upon the third announcement for today's conference, namely on two meetings Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba held this week.

One is a meeting with Secretary-General of the OECD. On 23 April, Minister Gemba had a meeting with Mr. Jose Angel Gurria Trevino, Secretary-General of the OECD, who was visiting Japan. They discussed the reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake and the upcoming OECD Ministerial Council Meeting.

The other meeting that Minister Gemba held this week was a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia. On 24 April, Minister Gemba held a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Anifah bin Aman of Malaysia, who was on a working visit to Japan. They discussed bilateral relations, including the 30th anniversary of the Look East Policy maintained by Malaysia, the Great East Japan Earthquake, economic relations, and others, as well as regional/international situations.

4. Appointment of Mr. Yukio Takasu as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Management

Ms. Saiki: Fourth and last, on the appointment of a new Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. Yesterday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of Mr. Yukio Takasu as Under-Secretary-General for Management. Mr. Takasu was Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations from 2007 to 2010. Mr. Takasu has been serving as Secretary-General Ban's Special Adviser on Human Security since 2011.

With these initial announcements, now I would be happy to take questions from you.

Are there any questions? If not, I would like to conclude here. Thank you.

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