Japan-Norway Relations

On December 16, commencing at 4:10 p.m. for approximately 10 minutes, Mr. SUGA Yoshihide, Prime Minister of Japan, held a summit telephone talk with H.E. Ms. Erna SOLBERG, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway. The overview of the talk is as follows.

1. At the outset, Prime Minister Suga stated that Japan and Norway are both maritime nations and partners sharing fundamental values including freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and that he hoped to build a favourable relationship with Prime Minister Solberg and further strengthen Japan-Norway relations. In response, Prime Minister Solberg expressed her intention to further develop good bilateral relations between the two countries.
2. With regard to the "High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy," led by Norway, Prime Minister Suga expressed his delight at having been able to launch a leaders' document ("Transformations for a Sustainable Ocean Economy - A Vision for Protection, Production and Prosperity") together with Prime Minister Solberg and  expressed his intention to continue to cooperate towards the third meeting of the High-Level Panel in 2021. In response, Prime Minister Solberg stated that Norway attaches importance to its cooperation with Japan, as a country with which Norway shares fundamental values, and expressed her appreciation for Japan's contribution to the "High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy."
3. The two leaders also confirmed that Japan and Norway will cooperate in promoting an international framework to ensure fair access to vaccines in response to COVID-19.
4. In light of the fact that from next year Norway will become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Prime Minister Suga stated that he would like to promote the cooperation between Japan and Norway in addressing issues such as North Korea including the abductions issue, and the two leaders shared the view that Japan and Norway will strengthen cooperation in international fora.