Press Conferences

Foreign Press Secretary KITAMURA Toshihiro: At the outset, I have one announcement. As the Chief Cabinet Secretary mentioned at the press conference this morning, the Summit of the “Central Asia plus Japan” Dialogue will be held in Tokyo on December 19 and December 20 for the first time of the leaders’ level.

I would like to take this opportunity to explain the background. The “Central Asia plus Japan” Dialogue is a framework that Japan launched in 2004 to promote regional cooperation, from the viewpoint that regional cooperation to resolve common regional issues is indispensable for the stability and development of Central Asia. The abbreviation “CA+JAD” comes from the initial letters of the English name, “Central Asia plus JApan Dialogue.”

Under the CA+JAD framework, ten Foreign Ministers’ Meetings have been held to date, including online format. Various discussions have also been conducted with the participation of experts and business representatives in sector-specific Experts’ Meetings and public symposiums such as the “Tokyo Dialogue,” an open symposium.

On the occasion of this Summit Meeting, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building will be illuminated with motifs of the national flags of the five Central Asian countries, in the Japanese alphabetical order: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. The illumination will take place tomorrow on December 18 and December 19 three times between 5:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.

Information about this illumination will also be posted on the X account of Central Asia and Caucasus Division, European Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), so we invite you to take a look.