Japan-Cuba Relations
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida Makes Courtesy Calls on President Raúl Castro of Cuba and Former President Fidel Castro
May 3, 2015
On May 2, Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs, made a courtesy call on H. E. Mr. Raúl Castro Ruz, President of the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba, during his working to Cuba. Continuing, on May 2, Minister Kishida made a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Fidel Castro Ruz, former President of the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba. The overview of the courtesy calls is as follows.
- Minister Kishida expressed pleasure at being the first-ever Japanese foreign minister to visit Cuba, and conveyed to President Raúl Castro that in his meeting with Foreign Minister Rodríguez it had been agreed that Japan and Cuba will strengthen dialogue and cooperation to elevate bilateral relations to a new level.
- President Raúl Castro welcomed the historic visit to Cuba by Minister Kishida and expressed his intention to broadly strengthen bilateral relations, including economic relations. He referred specifically to various challenges, including the debt issue, the actualization of Cuba’s economic system and United States-Cuba relations.
- Former President Fidel Castro welcomed Minister Kishida and recalled his visit to Japan in 2003, during which he visited Hiroshima, speaking about the damage caused by nuclear weapons. Former President Fidel Castro also raised issues such as disaster prevention and agriculture, in addition to which he noted that Japanese people are extremely hard wokers, Japanese products are outstanding and that Japan and Cuba has always shared friendly relations.