CANADA AND JAPAN A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR THE 21st CENTURY

Tokyo, November 17, 1999

Prime Minister Chretien and Prime Minister Obuchi met today in Tokyo and held extensive discussions on a broad range of issues facing the world and the Asia-Pacific region. The Prime Ministers stressed the need for expanded cooperation between Canada and Japan in addressing the global challenges of the new century. Participating in the meeting with the Prime Ministers were the premiers and territorial leaders of Canada and ministers from both governments.

The meeting took place in the context of Team Canada's current one week visit to Japan. With the objective of seeking new opportunities, Team Canada has directly interacted with a wide range of Japanese business sectors, the high technology sector in particular, and has strengthened the business partnership between the two countries. Prime Minister Obuchi expressed his warm appreciation for Team Canada's visit to Japan.

The Prime Ministers expressed confidence that the Team Canada visit to Japan would promote trade and investment ties between the two countries. They invited relevant organizations in both the public and private sectors to conduct follow-up activities, and noted the interest expressed by both private sectors in undertaking a study of bilateral trade and investment opportunities. The Prime Ministers shared the view that the two governments should continue to consider input from the business communities of both countries.

The two Prime Ministers confirmed the intention of the two governments to promote contact between regulatory authorities of the two countries with a view to enhancing understanding of their respective regulatory systems and facilitating trade in regulated products (document attached). The Prime Ministers underscored the importance of the upcoming multilateral trade negotiations under the WTO, and shared the view that new trade negotiations are needed to expand global markets and strengthen trade rules.

At the conclusion of their meeting, the two Prime Ministers confirmed that their global partnership remained strong, and should be further developed and expanded in light of the many challenges facing the world as we enter the 21st century.

In this regard, the Prime Ministers welcomed the arrangement for an exchange of space agency personnel, and the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in the areas of official development assistance, peace and security, Arctic science, space research and development, social policy research, social security and culture, as set out in the attachments.

Back to Index