Press Releases
Japan-Guyana Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
December 13, 2024
On December 13, commencing at 7:00 p.m. for approximately 30 minutes, Mr. IWAYA Takeshi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, held a meeting with Hon. Hugh Hilton Todd, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, who is visiting Japan to attend the Eighth Japan-CARICOM Ministerial-Level Conference. The overview is as follows.
- At the outset, Minister Iwaya welcomed the visit to Japan by Minister Todd on the occasion of the Eighth Japan-CARICOM Ministerial-Level Conference scheduled on December 14, and expressed his expectations for deepening relations with Guyana, which has achieved high economic growth in recent years.
- Minister Iwaya noted that Japan has built on cooperation in the past 10 years towards overcoming the vulnerabilities particular to low-lyling coastal states and sustainable development, in line with the three pillars of Japan’s CARICOM policy.
- Furthermore, Minister Iwaya conveyed that Japan plans to invite trainees to Japan for training on water resource management and disaster prevention, aimed at improving the country’s water purification and water supply technologies. Minister Iwaya hoped to realize even closer bilateral relations, including the advancement of Japanese companies in the country. In response, Minister Todd expressed his appreciation for such cooperation from Japan. And he stated his hope to commence the high-level political dialogue and to establish the Embassy. In addition, he expressed his hope to promote cooperation between companies and to cooperate in the renewable energy field, as he put emphasis on climate change, Energy security and food security,
- The two ministers concurred to further strengthen Japan-CARICOM relations and Japan-Guyana bilateral relations. The two ministers also concurred to the necessity of the importance of considering values and principles such as freedom, democracy, and rule of law and building up various dialogues to lead the world worried about fragmentation to cooperation.
(Reference)Basic data of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana
The Co-operative Republic of Guyana covers an area of approximately 215,000 square kilometers (slightly smaller than the size of Japan’s main island of Honshu), and has a population of approximately 790,000 people (World Bank, 2021) and a gross national income (GNI) per capita of 9,380 U.S. dollars (World Bank, 2021).