Press Releases
Dinner Meeting between Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mr. José Ángel Gurría Treviño, Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
On April 22, from 7:40 P.M., Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, held a dinner meeting at Iikura Guest House with Mr. José Ángel Gurría Treviño, Secretary General of the OECD, who is visiting Japan. An overview of the dinner meeting is as follows.
- Announcement of Candidacy to 2014 OECD Ministerial Council Chair
(1) At the start of the meeting, Minister Kishida stated that 2014 will mark the 50th anniversary of Japan’s accession to the OECD. He noted that at that time, membership in the OECD, along with membership in the United Nations (UN) and signing of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), had been matters of extreme importance as measures for Japan to rejoin the international community. He stated that Japan hopes to continue cooperation toward helping OECD to continue making its presence in the international community, and that Japan wishes to serve as the Chair of the 2014 OECD Ministerial Council and that he wished to use the opportunity of the diner meeting to announce Japan’s candidacy for that.
(2) In response, Secretary General Gurría welcomed the enthusiasm expressed by Japan to serve as Chair of the Ministerial Council in the year that should be commemorated for marking Japan’s 50th anniversary. He stated that he expected other countries would welcome Japan’s enthusiasm as well.
- Strengthening OECD outreach activities in Asia
(1) Minister Kishida stated that there was an indisputable need to strengthen the outreach activity of the OECD toward Asia based on the remarkable economic growth occurring in the region in recent years. He said that he wanted the OECD to bolster relations with the Southeast Asian region.
(2) In response, Secretary General Gurría shared the recognition of the importance of Asia in the world economy moving forward, expressed the intention of the OECD to further strengthen relations with Asia, and said that he wanted to request continued support from Minister Kishida and Japan.
- In addition, the two had a wide-ranging exchange of opinions on the Economic Survey of Japan scheduled to be released the following day, Japanese personnel working in the OECD, the future of the OECD, and other topics.