Japan-Ecuador Relations

On August 13, commencing at 10 a.m. (local time; 12 a.m. on August 14, Japan time) for approximately 70 minutes, Mr. Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs, who is visiting the Republic of Ecuador, held a foreign ministers’ meeting with H.E. Mr. José Samuel Valencia Amores, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador, in Ecuador’s capital city of Quito. Following the meeting Foreign Minister Kono attended an Exchange of Notes (E/N) signing ceremony, a joint press occasion and a lunch meeting hosted by Foreign Minister Valencia. The overview is as follows. 

1. At the beginning, Foreign Minister Kono explained that he has at last been able to visit Ecuador as Japan’s Foreign Minister for the first time in last 100 years this year, which marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Ecuador, and he started that forward it will be necessary to further promote exchanges between the two countries. Foreign Minister Kono also conveyed his condolences to the victims of the abductions, murders and bombings that occurred on Ecuador’s northern border region this year. In response, Foreign Minister Valencia welcomed Foreign Minister Kono’s first visit to Ecuador, and stated that he hopes to collaborate more closely with Japan on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
2. Foreign Minister Kono expressed support for the Moreno Administration’s open politics and economic reform, along with expressing expectation that more Japanese companies will advance in Ecuador. Foreign Minister Kono also welcomed that the cooperative relationship is advancing steadily in the public and private sectors in the fields of information and communications technology (ICT) and digital terrestrial television broadcasting, and stated that he by all means hopes Ecuador will utilize Japanese companies’ highly trustworthy technologies for its future development. Furthermore, Foreign Minister Kono expressed expectation that Ecuador’s exports of bananas, cacao beans and other products to Japan will increase through the cooperation of Japan. In addition, Foreign Minister Kono explained that the Government of Japan recently decided to provide grant aid to the Government of Ecuador for the provision of disaster-prevention equipment, and intends to continue to cooperate in the disaster prevention field in the future. In response, Foreign Minister Valencia expressed gratitude for this cooperation by Japan, and explained that Ecuador intends to cooperate with Japan in various fields, including disaster prevention, and to further expand bilateral trade and investment in the future.
3. The two foreign ministers also exchanged views on cooperation in the international arena. Foreign Minister Kono conveyed his congratulations on the election of H.E. Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ecuador and Foreign Minister Valencia’s predecessor, as the President of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, and also confirmed that Japan will strengthen coordination with Ecuador in the international arena, including the UN, in various fields such as United Nations Security Council reform, and disarmament and nonproliferation. Furthermore, the two foreign ministers held a meaningful exchange of views on the Venezuela situation and the North Korea situation, and shared the view that they will closely coordinate.
4. Following the meeting, the two foreign ministers attended an E/N signing regarding cooperation in the field of disaster prevention, and an unveiling ceremony of a stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations, and then the two sides held a joint press occasion.