Foreign Minister Matsumoto to Attend the Mercosur Summit and Make a Visit to Brazil

June 28, 2011
Japanese

From Tuesday, June 28 to Saturday, July 2, Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeaki Matsumoto is scheduled to attend the Mercosur Summit, in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, and also to make a visit to Brazil.
At the Mercosur Summit, Foreign Minister Matsumoto is planning to deliver a speech aimed at further strengthening the relationship between Japan and Mercosur in future, and is also planning to exchange views with the other foreign dignitaries attending this summit.
In Brazil, Foreign Minister Matsumoto is planning to hold a Japan-Brazil Foreign Ministers' Meeting, attend a signing ceremony of economic cooperation projects, and hold talks with representatives of the Japanese community in Brazil.

[Reference]
1. Mercosur (Mercado Común del Sur) is a customs union that was established in 1995. The present member nations are Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, and Venezuela (However, the participation of Venezuela is awaiting the completion of the approval procedure by Paraguay).

2. Japan has been invited to attend this year's summit as an extra-regional country (This will be the first time Japan has attended a Mercosur Summit).

3. This occasion will mark the first-ever official visit to Paraguay by a Japanese Foreign Minister, as well as the first official visit to Brazil since the visit of then Foreign Minister Aso in August 2007.

(*This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

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