Courtesy Call on Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda by H.E. Mr. Alain Juppé, Minister of State and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the French Republic

On Friday, January 13, for about 10 minutes from 7:25 p.m., Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda received a courtesy call from H.E. Mr. Alain Juppé, Minister of State and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the French Republic. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. At the beginning of the meeting Prime Minister Noda welcomed Minister Juppé to Japan and also welcomed the holding of the First Japan-France Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue on the same day. He remarked that Japan and France are partners that share fundamental values, and that he hoped to strengthen further the relationship.
   
   
2. In response, Minister Juppé stated that he was pleased to have had a fruitful discussion, for example, on Myanmar, North Korea, Iran and Japan-France cooperation during the Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue, that Japan was an important partner for France with which the country shared common values, and that he hoped to continue to deepen not only the bilateral relationship of the two countries, but also their cooperative relationship in a variety of fields.
   
   
3. In addition, Prime Minister Noda and Minister Juppé confirmed that a Japan-European Union (EU) economic partnership agreement (EPA) should be pushed forward.