Meeting between Mr. Yutaka Banno, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Mr. Thierry Mariani, French Secretary of State for Transport for the Minister of Ecology, Sustainable development, Transport and Housing

August 22, 2011
Japanese

Today (Monday, August 22), State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Mr. Yutaka Banno held a meeting with Mr. Thierry Mariani, Secretary of State for Transport for the Minister of Ecology, Sustainable development, Transport and Housing. The outline of the meeting is as follows.

Great East Japan Earthquake
At the start of the meeting, State Secretary Banno expressed his sincere gratitude to France for its support for Japan in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake and for the visit to the devastated area including the city of Sendai on August 21 by Secretary Mariani. In addition, he stated that Japan hoped to have the cooperation of every country around the world as it moved forward with open reconstruction. In response, Secretary Mariani said that President Nicolas Sarkozy and several members of the French Cabinet had visited Japan to show the strong solidarity felt toward Japan. He also reported that France wished to keep on cooperating with Japan for its reconstruction.
Japan EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
State Secretary Banno stated that the Japan France and Japan EU economic relationships should be pushed toward further liberalization, and that from that perspective, a Japan EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) is of the utmost importance. Secretary Mariani replied that France also placed importance on the work for the start of negotiations for a Japan EU EPA, and that the country had high expectations such an agreement would include items of great interest to France.
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Convention)
In reply to an inquiry from Secretary Mariani on whether any progress had been made in discussions on the possibility of Japan signing the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, State Secretary Banno explained that preparations were underway to submit an bill on the matter to the Diet so as to conclude the Convention at an early date.

(*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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