Japan-France Relations
[JOINT JAPAN-FRANCE] PRESS RELEASE
(2nd Japan-France Comprehensive Maritime Dialogue)
February 21, 2023
- The 2nd Japan-France Comprehensive Maritime Dialogue was held in Tokyo on 2 February 2023.
- This meeting was co-chaired by Mr. NAKAMURA Kimitake, Deputy Director-General, European Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. MURATA Shigeki, Director-General, National Ocean Policy Secretariat, Cabinet Office, Mr. Olivier POIVRE d’ARVOR d'Arvor, Ambassador for the Poles and Maritime Issues, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic and Mr. Benoît De GUIBERT, Deputy Secretary General for the Sea of the French Republic.
- The Dialogue gathered officials from , on the Japanese side, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), National Ocean Policy Secretariat, National Security Secretariat (NSS), Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), Ministry of the Environment (MOE), Ministry of Defense (MOD), Japan Coast Guard (JCG), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), on the French side, Secretariat General of the Sea (SGMer), Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE), Ministry of Armed Forces (MINARM), Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESRI), and , National Institute for Ocean Science (IFREMER).
- As Indo-Pacific States and Maritime States, France and Japan reaffirmed their ambition to deepen their bilateral cooperation on maritime affairs and stressed the importance of the Comprehensive Maritime Dialogue as a major component of the Exceptional Partnership between France and Japan.
- The Dialogue gave the opportunity to review and build-up on the priorities set in the France-Japan bilateral cooperation roadmap and to identify future potential areas of cooperation in maritime governance, environment, maritime security and safety, economy and science.
- Both parties shared convergent analyses on major regional maritime issues and shared the importance of close coordination in the perspective of the major multilateral events such as the negotiation for the treaty on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) and the Third UN Ocean Conference cohosted by Costa Rica (2024) and France (2025). Discussions covered wide range of issues such as reinforcement of port security, conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity, climate change adaptation, naval joint-interactions, coordination on crime at sea, piracy and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, and marine and polar scientific cooperation including the development of a sub-sea observatory in the south Pacific.