Meeting between Mr. Kazuya Shimba, Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs and H.E. Mr. Labeed Majeed Abbawi, Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs of Iraq

November 21, 2012
Japanese

On Tuesday, November 20, from 11:00 a.m. for about 40 minutes, Mr. Kazuya Shimba, Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, held a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with H.E. Mr. Labeed Majeed Abbawi, Ambassador, Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs in charge of Policy Planning and Bilateral Relations of the Republic of Iraq, who is currently visiting Japan, from 11:00 a.m. for approximately 40 minutes. The overview of the meeting is as follows:

Mr. Shimba expressed his gratitude for the support Japan received from Iraq in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake. In reply, Undersecretary Abbawi remarked that Japan is the partner of Iraq not only in the economic but also in the political areas, and Iraq is willing to strengthen the bilateral collaboration in a variety of fields, and expects Japan to play further roles in the reconstruction and development of Iraq.
Mr. Shimba welcomed the steady development of the bilateral economic relationship, and requested the Iraqi side to tackle such issues as the improvement of the business environment for the purpose of further expansion of the activities of Japanese companies in Iraq. In reply, Undersecretary Abbawi remarked that the Iraqi side will work seriously so as to enhance the business and investment environments and provide security for the foreigners including the Japanese.
In addition, both sides discussed issues related to the promotion of bilateral collaboration in the areas of culture and education as well as the exchange of people. They also exchanged views on the Middle Eastern regional situation including the Iranian nuclear issue and the situation in Syria.

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

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