Press Releases
Video message by Mr. HAYASHI Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs, on the occasion of the Meeting of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) Ministerial Council
May 12, 2023
From May 8 to 12, local time, the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) related meetings were held in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, and Mr. HAYASHI Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, sent a video message on the occasion of the Meeting of the Ministerial Council on May 11.
- Minister Hayashi expressed his respect for Guatemala for hosting the ACS meeting and touched upon the wide range of cooperation between Japan and ACS countries, such as disaster risk reduction, climate change, and marine conservation including the removal of Sargassum seaweed.
- In addition, Minister Hayashi stated that a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)" is becoming more important than ever at a time when the international community is at a history’s turning point, calling on ACS member countries to share the vision to uphold a free and open international order based on the rule of law and to expand the network of efforts to achieve it.
- Finally, Minister Hayashi noted the importance of expanding solidarity with ACS member countries, referring to his visits to Latin America and the Caribbean region in January and early May of this year, and stated that, as the G7 president, Japan intends to build a better world together by listening carefully to the voices of each country and incorporate them into the discussions.
(Appendix) Video message by Mr. HAYASHI Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs on the occasion of the 28th Meeting of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) Ministerial Council (English (PDF)
/ Japanese (PDF))