Press Releases

On April 9, Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida held a meeting for approximately 30 minutes with Mr. José Ángel Gurría Treviño, Secretary General of the OECD, who was visiting Japan, at the Iikura Guest House. An overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. Minister Kishida stated the following:

(1) At the beginning, he said he is pleased to welcome Secretary General Gurría to Japan in 2014, the 50th anniversary of Japan’s accession to the OECD, and is grateful that Secretary General Gurría visited disaster-affected areas in Fukushima during this visit to Japan.

(2) He said he would like to undertake productive discussions on the themes of “a resilient economies and societies” and “strengthening ties between the OECD and Southeast Asia” at the Ministerial Council Meeting in May. He asked that efforts be made to ensure that initiatives concerning Southeast Asia will be meaningful, including the launching event of the Southeast Asia Regional Program.

2. Secretary General Gurría stated the following:

(1) Along with commemorating the 50th anniversary of Japan’s accession to the OECD, he expressed gratitude for the efforts being made by Minister Kishida and other officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

(2) He said the main theme of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting is an appropriate one to be taken up when Japan chairs the meeting, as Japan is recovering from the Great East Japan Earthquake and overcoming deflation. He also expressed gratitude for Japan’s support for strengthening ties with Southeast Asia, and said he would like to move ahead with initiatives to ensure Southeast Asia-related programs prosper.

3. In addition, a brochure of policy recommendations issued by the OECD for the visit was delivered to Minister Kishida.