Courtesy Call on Prime Minister Noda by Co-chair Bill Gates

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  (Photo: Cabinet Public Relations Office)

On November 4, Prime Minister Noda was paid a courtesy call by Bill Gates, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Chairman of Microsoft Corporation) for approximately 20 minutes beginning at 4:55 PM. The following is an overview of the courtesy call.

At the session of the G20 Cannes Summit held on November 3, Co-chair Gates presented a report on development he made himself at the request of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. 

1. Prime Minister Noda expressed his gratitude for the support received from Microsoft, the Gates Foundation, and others in the public and private sectors of the United States, and stated that the disaster sites and economy of Japan are on a steady recovery path and that he would like to make an open, full-fledged recovery incorporating the dynamism of the United States and other countries. In response, Co-chair Gates stated that he was honored to be of assistance and that he sincerely hopes that the efforts of the people of Japan will bear fruit.
   
   
2. A discussion on development issues was conducted as follows.
   
   (1) Prime Minister Noda praised the report (Reference 1) by Co-chair Gates for its indication that the G20 should strengthen its efforts on technological innovation and public-private sector cooperation as an initiative that Japan places importance on, and Prime Minister Noda and Co-chair Gates confirmed that Japan and the Gates Foundation share the same basic orientation on efforts regarding development issues.
   
   [Reference 1] The report mentions anti-malaria mosquito nets developed by a Japanese company as an example of technological innovation, and the triangular cooperation (Reference 2) among Japan, Brazil, and Mozambique as an example of an innovative partnership.
   
   [Reference 2] Japan has contributed greatly to the transformation of Brazil’s Cerrado region (tropical savanna) into a major agricultural area. Based on this experience, Japan, Brazil, and Mozambique are promoting agricultural development in the tropical savanna of Mozambique through a form of trilateral cooperation called “triangular cooperation.”
   
   (2) Prime Minister Noda and Co-chair Gates lauded the concrete progress of cooperation between Japan and the Gates Foundation, such as the loan transfer for polio countermeasures in Pakistan (Reference 3), and agreed to further strengthen cooperation in international health, food safety assurance, and other areas. Moreover, the two parties came to a common understanding regarding consideration being given to the implementation of additional proposals for cooperation toward the complete elimination of polio and to continue coordination toward the success of TICADV in the year after next, as well as other concrete cooperation.
   
   [Reference 3] In August 2011, Japan provided a yen loan of approximately 5 billion to Pakistan, which the Gates Foundation will repay in Pakistan’s stead provided that the government of Pakistan steadily implements a polio immunization campaign.