Japan-Tunisia Relations

On December 26th, commencing at 3:15 PM (local time, 11:15 PM December 26th Japan time) for approximately 20 minutes, Mr. Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs, paid a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Youssef Chahed, Head of Government of the Republic of Tunisia, during his visit to Tunisia. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. In the beginning, H.E. Mr. Chahed welcomed Mr. Kono's visit to Tunisia. In response, Minister Kono stated that this is the first time for him to be here in 13 years since the last time he accompanied his farther Mr. Yohei Kono who visited Tunisia in 2006 as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and that he would like to take advantage of this opportunity in order to upgrade the relationship between the two countries. In addition, Minister Kono expressed his respect to Tunisia's strong determination toward the reforms which achieved the democratization of the country through "Arab Spring", and expressed his intention to further promote the entry of Japanese businesses to Tunisia as well as to contribute to supporting stability in the country as a cordial friend.
2. In response, H.E. Mr. Chahed stated that Japan is strategically important for Tunisia, expressing his appreciation to Japan's support for the democratization since 2011, and expressed his wish to elevate bilateral relations including economic and business perspectives to a next level and to learn from experience of Japan.
3. Moreover the two shared the views on further promoting the cooperation between the two countries in a wide range of areas, including politics, economy, investment, tourism, human resources development, and human exchanges.