Economic Diplomacy
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Receives a Courtesy Call from the Next Executive Director of the International Energy Agency
On February 16, commencing at 650 p.m. for approximately 5 minutes, Mr. Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister, received a courtesy call from Mr. Fatih Birol, the next Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) during his visit to Japan (currently, he is the Chief Economist and Director of Global Energy Economics at the IEA). An overview of the meeting is as follows.
1. Prime Minister Abe congratulated Mr. Birol on his election as the next Executive Director at the meeting of the IEA Governing Board last week.
2. Prime Minister Abe praised the IEA for its contribution to improving the world’s energy security through the provision of its realistic policy recommendations within the context of the major changes in the world’s energy situation. He also expressed his hopes for the strong support to Japan from the IEA which possesses excellent expertise, as Japan devotes considerable efforts to rebuild its energy policy.
3. In addition, Prime Minister Abe expressed his expectations that the IEA would further produce high-quality outcomes under Mr. Birol’s leadership, and stated that Japan would continue to support the IEA.