Press Releases
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Abe Meets with the Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Panama
On March 24, commencing at 10:50 a.m. for approximately 30 minutes, Dr. Toshiko Abe, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, held a meeting with H.E. Ms. Isabel Cecilia Saint Malo, Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Panama, who is visiting Japan to attend the Fifth World Assembly for Women (WAW!) and Women 20 (W20). The overview of the meeting is as follows.
1. In her opening remarks, State Minister Abe welcomed Vice President Saint Malo’s visit to Japan, and stated that she intends to further strengthen the bilateral relationship between Japan and Panama, which are important partners that share fundamental values. In response, Vice President Saint Malo commended Japan’s leadership in the gender field and stated that Panama intends to further enhance its friendly and cooperative relationship with Japan.
2. State Minister Abe stated that, since Japan is one of the main users of the Panama Canal, she expects continued close consultations with Panama, and welcomed the formal decision to introduce Japan’s monorail technology for the Panama Metropolitan Area Urban Transportation Line-3 Development Project. In response, Vice President Saint Malo underscored the favorable relationship between Japan and Panama, and stated that the project would widely demonstrate Japanese high technological capabilities and also would improve the quality of life of Panamanian People.
3. State Minister Abe and Vice President Saint Malo exchanged views regarding issues in the international arena, such as the North Korea situation including the abductions issue, and shared the view that the two countries would deepen their cooperative relationship.
[Reference] Panama Metropolitan Area Urban Transportation Line-3 Development Project
This project constructs Line 3 (approx. 26 km) connecting the western side of the metropolitan area of Panama and downtown Panama City, by introducing high quality monorail cars and system which have been operated commercially as a fully safe and reliable urban transportation system. The project seeks to improve the urban transportation function of the metropolitan area and reduce greenhouse gas emissions with the objective of contributing to sustainable economic development in Panama. In April 2016, an exchange of notes (E/N) and loan agreement (L/A) were signed (ODA Loan for Panama) during the visit to Japan by H.E. Mr. Juan Carlos Varela, President of Panama. Loan provision is up to 281.071 billion yen (equivalent to approximately 94% of total project cost of 299.215 billion yen). This is Japan’s largest ever ODA Loan for Latin America and the Caribbean.