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Sixth Australia-Japan Conference
Co-chairs' Statement


The Sixth Australia-Japan Conference was held in Canberra 11-12 February 2010. The Conference was co-chaired by Sir Rod Eddington, Chairman of the Australia-Japan Business Cooperation Committee, and Mr Akio Mimura, Chairman of the Japan-Australia Business Cooperation Committee.

Participants included eminent representatives from politics, business, academia, think-tanks and media in both countries. Australia's Foreign Minister, the Hon Stephen Smith MP, addressed Conference participants, and the Chair of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Senator Michael Forshaw, participated in the Conference. Japan's State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr Tetsuro Fukuyama, participated in the Conference and delivered Japan's keynote address.

Conference discussions focussed on three broad themes: political and strategic cooperation, trade and economic cooperation, and people-to-people links. The main outcomes of the Conference discussions are outlined below.


Political/Strategic

Conference participants considered that Australia and Japan were on the threshold of a significant expansion of their cooperation on political and strategic issues. They observed that cooperation on global issues in multilateral fora had progressed and should be expanded even further, noting that Australia and Japan were able to achieve more in these areas when they worked together. They:

  • Welcomed the rapid progress in bilateral security and defence cooperation, and urged the two Governments to expand further their cooperation in peace-keeping, post-conflict reconstruction, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and to cooperate more on development assistance.


  • Reaffirmed the vital role of strong and effective Australia-US and Japan-US alliances in underpinning stability in the region as a whole, and welcomed growing trilateral Australia-Japan-US strategic cooperation.


  • Urged the two Governments to expand their cooperation to include the full range of global issues, including climate change, nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, UN reform and economic development.


  • Welcomed Australian and Japanese leadership in promoting discussions on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, including in the context of the report of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND), and urged the two Governments to deepen dialogue on international nuclear safeguards, safety, security and related issues.


  • Welcomed continued Australian and Japanese leadership in shaping the development of regional architecture in the Asia-Pacific region and called on both Governments to deepen their discussions and coordination on this issue.


  • Noted that regional prosperity was best achieved through global, regional and bilateral trade and investment liberalisation and a commitment to open regionalism.


  • Welcomed the deepening of trilateral dialogue and cooperation among Japan, the Republic of Korea, and China, noting that this helped to enhance regional stability.


  • Urged experts in both countries to deepen their dialogue on challenges and opportunities resulting from emerging trends in East Asia.

Trade/Economic

Conference participants considered that the bilateral trade and investment relationship remained vital to both countries in the changing international environment, and noted that it was important not to take that relationship for granted. The economic relationship was highly complementary and had much potential for further growth. Australia was a safe and reliable supplier of food and resources and a world-class financial services centre. Japanese investment remained vital to Australia's economy. Recent strong growth in two-way investment flows was a positive sign of mutual confidence at a time of global economic difficulty. Participants:

  • Urged both Governments to ensure all necessary steps were taken domestically and globally to accelerate economic recovery, including continued targeted and sustainable economic stimulus measures and improvements in global financial governance.


  • Welcomed the consolidation of the G20, which includes Australia and Japan, as the key forum to discuss international economic issues, and called on both Governments to work actively and cooperatively in the G20 in the future.


  • Urged both Governments to continue to work to reach a successful conclusion to the WTO Doha Round of trade negotiations, to assist global economic recovery and to lay the basis for sustainable global growth.


  • Noted the strong support among business in both countries for a Free Trade Agreement/Economic Partnership Agreement and urged both Governments to move forward in their negotiations in order to conclude a comprehensive, high-quality and mutually beneficial agreement.


  • Noted that the services sector dominated both economies, presenting significant but unrealised complementarities in the trade and investment relationship especially financial services where Australia has world-class strengths, and called for these opportunities to be further explored.


  • Encouraged Australian firms to increase their profile in, and level of investment into, Japan.


  • Noted that Japan attached great importance to Australia continuing to be a safe and reliable supplier of exports to Japan.


  • Called on business and government to explore opportunities for cooperation between Australian and Japanese companies in third countries, particularly in the provision of infrastructure in Asia, and welcomed the work of the Australia-Japan and Japan-Australia Business Cooperation Committees in promoting a system of public-private infrastructure financing.


  • Called on both Governments to work closely together in shaping international and domestic responses to the challenge of climate change, including by sharing experiences on domestic responses, collaboration in the development of clean energy technology, and working together in international fora.

People-to-people links

Conference participants considered the people-to-people relationship to be in good order, with positive public perceptions on both sides of the relationship, and an extensive and organic network of people-to-people ties. They highlighted the need continually to reinforce the value of the relationship to the public in both countries, and felt that stronger parliamentary exchanges were vital to this. They:

  • Emphasised the importance of regular and frequent exchanges between parliamentarians and Diet Members and called for increased exchanges.


  • Welcomed and endorsed the report prepared by the joint working group, co-chaired by Mr Tim Lester and Professor Masami Sekine, on ways to enhance the effectiveness of Japanese language learning in Australia, and called on the Australian and Japanese Governments and the business and academic communities to be ambitious in considering its recommendations.


  • Welcomed the efforts already made by the Australian Government to support Japanese language learning through the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program.


  • Welcomed recent Japanese efforts to enhance visiting programs for business people, university students and high school students under the JENESYS program sponsored by the Japanese Government.


  • Welcomed the long-standing contributions of the Australia-Japan Foundation (AJF) and the Japan Foundation to furthering people-to-people links.


  • Supported the important role of sister-city, sister-State, and other ties in enhancing people-to-people exchanges between Australians and Japanese.


  • Urged both Governments to continue to make efforts to find a solution to the whaling issue through dialogue, and agreed that the issue should not affect the priority given to the comprehensive strategic, security and economic partnership between the two countries.

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