Japan-Mexico Foreign Ministers' Meeting

November 24, 2011

(Japanese)

Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba held talks with his Mexican counterpart, Secretary of Foreign Relations Patricia Espinosa, on November 11 in Honolulu on the sidelines of the APEC Ministerial Meeting. The following is a summary of the talks. At the outset of the bilateral meeting, Minister Gemba expressed his condolences on the death of Secretary of the Interior Francisco Blake Mora, who passed away in a helicopter crash on November 11.

1. Bilateral Relations

1. (1) Minister Gemba expressed gratitude for the support extended by Mexico in connection with the Great East Japan Earthquake. He also stated that the two countries were making progress in cooperative relations as partners in international fields such as climate change, disarmament, nonproliferation and reform of the U.N. Security Council. He expressed hope that Japan would establish closer cooperation with Mexico as the latter was due to host next year’s G20 meetings. Furthermore, he voiced the desire that the two countries would mutually strive for revision of the bilateral EPA protocol toward its early entry into force. He asked Mexico to improve its business environment further in the wake of a growing number of Japanese companies moving into the country in recent years. Minister Gemba also said that Japan was paying close attention to third-nation policy changes so that they would not impact the business of Japanese companies operating in Mexico.
2. (2) Secretary Espinosa said Mexicans appreciated all the support they had received from Japan, noting that they were particularly grateful to the assistance extended when a major earthquake struck Mexico in 1985. She said that Mexico was very much satisfied with the cooperative relations maintained by the two countries in the international arena and that her country intended to cooperate with Japan in the future, especially for the success of the upcoming G20 meetings. Secretary Espinosa stated that Mexico was concerned about global protectionist moves and expressed a wish to cooperate with Japan in an effort to resolve such issues.

2. Cooperation in International Arena

1. (1) Climate Change
   The two ministers shared the view that their countries would continue to maintain close cooperation in achieving a success at COP 17 scheduled to be held in South Africa at the end of November.
2. (2) Disarmament & Non-proliferation
   The two sides confirmed that they would continuously cooperate for the implementation of the NPT Action Plan through vigorous discussions during meetings associated with the Non-proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI).
3. (3) Reform of the U.N. Security Council
   The ministers shared the view on the need to reform the U.N. Security Council and also shared the necessity to keep up discussions for early realization of the reform.