Japan-Spain Foreign Ministers’ Meeting

September 1, 2010
Japanese

Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs, held talks with Mr. Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain, on September 1 (Wed) from 2:50 to 3:30 p.m. at the MOFA building. Minister Moratinos is accompanying Mr. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain, who is on an official working visit to Japan. The overview is as follows.

At the start of the meeting, Minister Okada expressed his condolence for Spanish officials who died in Afghanistan last week, and Minister Moratinos expressed his gratitude to Minister Okada.

Minister Okada conveyed his intention to take advantage of the visit to Japan by Prime Minister Zapatero and Foreign Minister Moratinos as an opportunity to elevate the bilateral relationship to yet a higher level in all aspects. In response, Minister Moratinos said that Spain is intent on further strengthening the bilateral relationship, as well as holding dialogues and cooperating with Japan on various issues faced by the international community.
Minister Okada noted the importance of concluding a Japan-EU economic partnership agreement (EPA), improving the business environment on the side of Spain, accelerating the procedures of granting work and residence permits for Japanese nationals employed in Spain, and promoting science and technology cooperation, with a view to strengthening bilateral economic relations.

In response, with regard to the Japan-EU EPA, Minister Moratinos said Spain emphasizes the promotion of market liberalization and would favorably consider the Japan-EU EPA.

Concerning the acceleration of the work and residence permit procedures, Minister Moratinos said that Spain is aware of the request, and would do the best to improve the current situation by submitting a positive response at an early date. Minister Okada thanked Minister Moratinos for his comments.

For science and technology cooperation, Minister Moratinos expressed his intention to further expand the effort, taking the opportunity of the signing of the science and technology (S&T) agreement on the same day.
In addition, Minister Moratinos stressed the importance of stepping up dialogues between Japan and Spain on a range of fields including Latin America, Africa, and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

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