Remarks by Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama During His Visit to the Middle East

September 18, 1995

On 12 September, I began a series of visits which has taken me to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Syrian Arab Republic, the State of Israel and the Gaza Strip, and today I arrived here in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, my final stop. I should first of all like to express my gratitude for the warm welcome which I received in each of these locations.

It has been deeply moving for me that I have been able to visit this Middle East region during this year marking the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. Today, Japan is determined to move forward by making an international contribution commensurate with its political and economic standing in order to realize a better future for all humanity. In the Middle East as well, I have continued to renew my recognition that the peace and prosperity of this region is in the interest of the entire international community, which of course includes Japan; and, believing that it is our primary role to help create a new system of international relations, I came to this region to speak directly to the Heads of State and Government here and to explain the specifics of the contribution which Japan has made and will make in the future.

During this visit, I emphasized, first, that Japan was prepared to make a positive and constructive contribution for the peace, stability and prosperity of the Middle East.

The Middle East peace process which began in the fall of 1991 entered a new phase with the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government signed in the autumn of 1993 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation 0rganization (PLO), which immediately followed mutual recognition between the two parties. Since that time the peace process has produced steady progress, as was symbolized by the commencement of Palestinian self-government and the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan. I herewith express my deep respect to the parties involved for their untiring and earnest efforts based on firm determination to achieve peace. I herein express, as well, Japan's intention to assist this great current of history towards the realization of a comprehensive peace. Specifically, we will make the following contributions.

Firstly, Japan will continue to urge all the leaders to make even greater efforts to negotiate, recognizing that the most important element of the peace process is bilateral negotiations among the parties involved, and based on the fact that a new chapter has opened with regard to Palestinian self-government and that the negotiations between Syria and Israel are at a critical stage.

In this regard, from the perspective of providing underlying support for the Syrian track, Japan has initiated preparations aimed at the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces personnel sometime in February 1996 to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which is being deployed on the Golan Heights.

Secondly, as assistance for the Palestinians, Japan has thus far steadily implemented the US$200 million assistance which it promised in autumn 1993 to extend over a two-year period. Japan will continue, as it has done thus far, to positively provide assistance. Furthermore, Japan recently made the decision to begin providing direct assistance to the Palestinian people. Japan also intends to provide the utmost cooperation in terms of personnel and material assistance for the efforts to observe the elections for the Palestinian Council.

Thirdly, in multilateral negotiations, which complement bilateral negotiations and aim to promote regional cooperation, given that the long-term conflicts have prevented the regional parties from sharing the foundation for regional cooperation, Japan wishes to play a part in building that foundation. In the light of this thinking, Japan proposed to draft an environmental code of conduct, which was adopted as "The Bahrain Environmental Code of Conduct for the Middle East" at the Environmental Working Group meeting in autumn 1994. As is symbolized by the adoption of the Code of Conduct, the mode of regional relationship which, in the Middle East, used to be defined in terms of conflict and confrontation is now being redefined in terms of prosperity based upon inter-dependence and mutual trust. In this way, this region has taken its first steps towards "a new Middle East." Japan, as cooperation and assistance for these new moves, intends to participate actively in the Amman Summit to be held here at the end of October, with the goal of constructing a partnership between governments and the private sectors, a partnership aiming at achieving economic prosperity in this region. Furthermore, in the Tourism Workshop of the Working Group on Regional Economic Development, Japan intends to continue consultations with the regional parties with the view to establishing a Regional Tourism Association at that summit, which has been considered in the Workshop under the chairmanship of Japan.

While we are seeing the kind of progress in the Middle East peace process which I have described herein, lasting peace and stability have yet to be established in the Gulf region, upon which Japan is largely dependent for its energy supplies. During this visit as well, I therefore had a frank exchange of opinions with the major countries involved in regional relations, beginning with Saudi Arabia, about ways to achieve peace and stability in the Gulf. The second point which I emphasized with the Heads of State and Government with whom I had exchanges of views was the importance of cultivating a more multilayered and more multifaceted partnership in the relations between Japan and the Middle East.

In the political sphere, in view of the extreme importance of direct exchanges between Heads of Government and State in the Middle East region, Japan intends to enhance political dialogue by positively expanding the exchange of visits by high-level government officials.

In the economic sphere, while assisting the efforts towards economic reform already being implemented by the various countries of the Middle East, I feel that it is important to continue mutually to search for ways and means to promote direct investment from Japan to these countries - a major point of interest on their part. In addressing the Palestinians and the Arab countries around Israel which are making efforts to achieve peace, let me also make it clear that Japan intends to positively extend economic cooperation so that all of the peoples of the region can enjoy the peace dividend.

Furthermore, Japan intends to further expand its relations of mutual dependence, including economic relations, with the oil-producing countries of the Gulf, with which Japan already has deep relations in the energy sector, and I believe that to achieve this it is important to further promote mutual understanding between our peoples. During this visit, as a means to achieving that end, besides promoting the greater exchange of officials which I mentioned earlier, I urged Saudi Arabia to take the initiative to hold a Saudi Fair in Japan and expressed Japan's readiness to do its utmost to cooperate with them.

During this trip, I also announced that in order to expand the scope of exchanges between Japan and the Middle East, in the five years remaining before the year 2000, Japan intends to invite more than 1,000 people from the Middle East.

In addition, I exchanged views on the need to promote cultural exchanges and cooperation given that cultural exchanges serve as an important means to enhancing mutual understanding, and in light of the fact that the Middle East region is home to many of the world's great cultural heritages and that there is a high-priority need to strive for their preservation.

In the future, Japan is prepared to work to enhance the breadth and depth of exchanges between it and the Middle East, and intends to make the utmost efforts through its cooperation to help this region realize its ongoing transformation into a region of peace and prosperity. I hereby renew my determination to make even further efforts for the peace and stability of the international community, based on this new partnership between Japan and the countries of the Middle East.

In closing, let me express my heartfelt respect to His Majesty King Hussein for the admirable role he is playing for the peace and prosperity of this region, as well as to the people of Jordan.