Courtesy Call by Mr. Katsuya Okada, Deputy Prime Minister of Japan on H.E. Mr. Thongsing Thammavong, Prime Minister of Lao People's Democratic Republic

On Thursday, March 15, commencing at 5:30 p.m. for around 20 minutes, Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada paid a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Thongsing Thammavong, Prime Minister of Lao People's Democratic Republic. The outline of the meeting is as follows:

1. At the beginning of the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Okada welcomed Prime Minister Thongsing to Japan, and also mentioned that he visited Lao PDR in July 2010 and had met Prime Minister Thongsing in May 2010 when Prime Minister Thongsing visited Japan in his capacity as the President of the National Assembly. Deputy Prime Minister Okada also noted that Lao PDR is located in a strategic position for transportation and has the Mekong River, and said that Japan wishes to proactively support Lao PDR's development.

2. In response, Prime Minister Thongsing said he was pleased to meet Deputy Prime Minister Okada again, and expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome he is receiving from all quarters during his present visit. Prime Minister Thongsing also expressed his condolences and sorrow over the suffering caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and explained that Lao PDR had provided as much support as it could, and that he is impressed by Japan's recovery. He said he wants to utilize his visit as an opportunity to deepen mutual understanding between Japan and Lao PDR, and to further strengthen cooperation with Japan toward Lao PDR's economic development.

3. Both sides reconfirmed that they will continue to cooperate toward strengthening the bilateral "Comprehensive Partnership" between Japan and Lao PDR.

* The foregoing is a provisional translation. The date indicated above denotes the date of issue of the original version in Japanese.