Courtesy Call by Mr. Louis Schweitzer, Special Representative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the French Republic for France-Japan Partnership, on Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs

February 18, 2013
Japanese

On February 18, from 7:40 p.m. for approximately 20 minutes, Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs, received a courtesy call from Mr. Louis Schweitzer, Special Representative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the French Republic for France-Japan Partnership, who is visiting Japan from France. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

Minister Kishida welcomed Special Representative Schweitzer to Japan and expressed gratitude for his contributions so far for Japan-France relations. Furthermore, Minister Kishida said that he was pleased to see recent developments in Japan-France Relations, explaining that Mr. Minoru Kiuchi, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, would be dispatched to New Caledonia on February 23 in order to advance Japan-France cooperation in the South Pacific Ocean, and noting that the ban of French beef imports had been lifted on February 1 and that the new measures authorising imports of Japanese beef to the EU had been proposed by the European Commission and were recently endorsed by Member States.
In response, Special Representative Schweitzer communicated a message from H.E. Mr. Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the French Republic, stating that the Minister hoped to visit Japan in the spring and hold discussions with Minister Kishida toward a visit to Japan by Mr. François Hollande, President of the French Republic. Special Representative Schweitzer also expressed the desire to continue to further solidify Japan-France cooperation in various fields.
In addition, the two had an exchange of opinions on situations in East Asia and the strengthening of Japan-EU and Japan-France economic relations, and finally confirmed that both sides would continue to cooperate closely on President Hollande's visit to Japan.

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

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