Visit to Japan by the Honorable John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia

July 1, 1999
Oceania Division
European and Oceanic Affairs Bureau

The Honorable John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia, and Mrs. Janette Howard will pay an Official Visit to Japan from July 5 to 9. This will be his second visit to Japan following an unofficial visit in September 1996.
The purpose and expectations of the visit are as follows.

Building High-Level Relationships of Personal Trust

At the time of his visit to Australia in 1997, then Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan agreed with Prime Minister Howard that Japan and Australia would hold a summit-level meeting annually. Based on this agreement, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and Prime Minister Howard held the first annual Japan-Australia summit on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meeting held in November 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The scheduled meeting between the prime ministers during the upcoming visit will be the second annual summit. Through such intimate diplomacy, a personal relationship of mutual trust is expected to be developed between the two leaders.
During his stay in Japan, Prime Minister Howard will be received in audience by Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan and attend a Court Luncheon hosted by Their Majesties. He will also meet with Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura and other Japanese ministers, as well as with various political and business leaders of Japan, including former Prime Minister Hashimoto. It is hoped that these meetings will help cultivate personal relationships based on trust among the leaders of a broad segment of society.

Establishing a Partnership for the Twenty-First Century

Japan and Australia have steadily been strengthening their ties in recent years, with the two countries' leaders issuing the Joint Declaration on the Australia-Japan Partnership in 1995 and agreeing on the Japan-Australia Partnership Agenda in 1997. Through the upcoming visit by Prime Minister Howard, the two countries are expected to confirm their common vision for Japan-Australia cooperation in the coming century and exchange views on the issues they currently face.

Bilateral cooperation between Japan and Australia

Building on the extremely friendly relationship they have enjoyed up to now across a broad range of areas, including politics, economy, and culture, Japan and Australia will further increase exchanges at every level and strive to promote mutual understanding between the countries' citizens. At the same time, they will confirm the need to construct a partnership for the twenty-first century and to continue working earnestly for a resolution of individual issues about which the two countries differ in opinion.

Japan-Australia cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region

Japan and Australia have been developing a close partnership in the Asia-Pacific region through a common awareness of security issues in the region, a strong commitment to APEC, and cooperation in supporting other Asian countries in the face of the Asian economic crisis. The two countries will confirm their intention to further expand and strengthen this cooperative relationship and exchange views on such issues confronting the Asia-Pacific region as the situation in Indonesia and East Timor, economic conditions in Asia, APEC, and regional security.

Cooperation in the global community

By building on their solid partnership in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan and Australia will confirm the need to develop into global partners that act responsibly and cooperatively in dealing with the many problems that the international community will be facing in the twenty-first century, such as those dealing with disarmament and the environment. Views will also be exchanged on such major current issues as United Nations reform and the new round of trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization.