Press Releases

On May 16, commencing from 10:30 a.m. for around 20 minutes, Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs, received a courtesy call from Mr. Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. At the start of the meeting, Minister Kishida welcomed Director-General Ryder on his first visit to Japan since assuming office (in October of last year), and explained that the growth strategy currently being worked on by the Abe Administration would prioritize the utilization of human resources. He further stated that Japan wished to continue working on initiatives for international issues related to labor in collaboration with the ILO.
2. In addition, Minister Kishida said that Japan was promoting human security and expressed his hope to continue cooperation with the ILO within a variety of frameworks to support developing countries. He also commented on the current international discussion regarding the post-2015 development agenda, explaining that Japan wanted to see the establishment of concrete and effective goals including on "growth and employment".
3. In response, Director-General Ryder communicated gratitude for Japan’s support to the ILO , and expressed interest in the direction of the Abe Administration’s growth strategy, including reforms in the field of labor, such as active use of young people and women. . He said that the ILO wished to support Japan’s efforts to see one of the three arrows of its economic booster plan fly head-on toward its mark. Director-General Ryder also announced that the ILO would be participating in the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) to be held next month in Yokohama, and said that he wanted to continue cooperation with Japan within the discussion on the post-2015 development agenda and employment measures in the G20.