Bilateral Leaders' Meeting between Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Hon. Willy Telavi, Prime Minister of Tuvalu

On May 25, commencing at 7 p.m., Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, on his visiting Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture, to attend the 6th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM 6), held a summit meeting with Hon. Willy Telavi, Prime Minister of Tuvalu. An overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. At the start of the meeting, Prime Minister Noda warmly welcomed Prime Minister Telavi's first visit to Japan, and stated that he hopes to further strengthen the friendly relations between Japan and Tuvalu. In response, Prime Minister Telavi expressed deep gratitude for Japan's warm hospitality and for the tremendous support Japan has extended to Tuvalu thus far.
2. Additionally, Prime Minister Telavi stated that he wants to forge close cooperative relations with Japan in the areas of education, marine transportation and the utilization of marine resources, and that Tuvalu will continue to support Japan in the international arena, particularly Japan's position in the environmental and climate change, and hopes to strengthen cooperation further.
3. In response to this, Prime Minister Noda stated that he acknowledges that Tuvalu faces difficulties because of its vulnerability for climate change and abnormal weather, etc., and expressed his expectation that desalination plants supplied during last year's drought are contributing to resolving Tuvalu's water shortage problem. Prime Minister Noda added that he wants to cooperate as much as possible on the areas mentioned by Prime Minister Telavi, and to continue to cooperate closely toward resolving challenges facing the region and international community, including response to climate change. Prime Minister Noda reiterated his gratitude for the support and sympathy Japan received from Tuvalu at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
4. Finally, before concluding the meeting, both Prime Ministers shared the view that they will develop bilateral cooperative relations further, and cooperate so as to make the PALM 6 Summit on the following day successful.