Japan-Samoa Relations

On February 10, commencing at 0:25 p.m. local time (8:25 a.m. JST) for approximately 1 hour 40 minutes, Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, who was visiting Independent State of Samoa, made a courtesy call on Hon. FIAME Naomi Mata’afa, Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Foreign Affairs, Independent State of Samoa and attended the lunch meeting hosted by the Prime Minister Fiame. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

After the courtesy call, the ministers conducted the signing ceremony of the note concerning the grant aid for the improvement of facilities at the Faculty of Health Science of National University of Samoa.

At the outset, Prime Minister welcomed and expressed her appreciation for the visit of Minister Kamikawa. Minister Kamikawa stated that she was pleased to be the first Japanese Foreign Minister to visit Samoa and expressed her respect for Prime Minister Fiame's longstanding dedication to the development of the country.

Minister Kamikawa also touched on the "kizuna" between the two countries, such as the activities of the JICA’s Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, which is running over a half century in Samoa, and the Ministers reaffirmed that Japan and Samoa have built cordial and cooperative relations over the years, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations last year. In response, Prime Minister Fiame expressed her gratitude for the support from the Government and people of Japan in providing cooperation to Samoa, including the one for the improvement of the facilities at Faculty of Health Science in National University of Samoa.

Minister Kamikawa stated that, as the world is at a turning point in history, she would like to strengthen their relations with trust based on shared values and principles between Japan and the Pacific Island countries, including Samoa, attaching the importance to regional unity and cohesion, and made discussions on the PALM process as well as its development direction. During the discussion, while she mentioned the importance of regional unity, Prime Minister Fiame expressed her expectation for the PALM 10.

Regarding the discharge of the ALPS treated water into the sea, Minister Kamikawa expressed her gratitude to the Prime Minister for sincerely listening to Japan's explanations. She also mentioned about the first IAEA Report since the start of the discharge of ALPS treated water, and stated that Japan, with the continued engagement with IAEA, would continue to provide sincere explanations based on scientific evidence, including monitoring results, to provide reassurance.

Minister Kamikawa stated that the climate change is the urgent challenge for both Japan and Samoa as island countries, and expressed her hope that the Pacific Climate Change Center (PCCC) in Samoa that she was visiting on that day would become a center for developing its own human resources and sharing information and technology in cooperation with Japan. The ministers confirmed the importance of their putting efforts in particular toward PALM 10 on climate change.

The ministers exchanged views on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). Minister Kamikawa mentioned that Japan is vigorously promoting WPS as part of its major foreign policy, and held a discussion on reviewing cooperation for the common challenges shared with Pacific island countries, such as disaster prevention and response, by incorporating WPS perspectives.

Prime Minister Fiame renewed her wish for the swift recovery from the damages caused by the Noto Peninsula earthquake and Minister Kamikawa responded with her gratitude and presented the gift, which is a box foiled with Kanazawa gold leaf, in the hope of supporting the affected areas.