Japan-Germany Summit Meeting (Overview)

On Friday, November 4, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who is in Cannes, France, to attend the G20 Summit Meeting, met with H.E. Dr. Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. An overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. Outset

Prime Minister Noda mentioned that he had met His Excellency Mr. Christian Wulff, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, the previous week, and that he hoped to continue to strengthen the Japan-Germany bilateral relationship in light of the 150-Year Friendship between the two countries. In response, Chancellor Merkel said that she would like Prime Minister Noda to visit Germany, and noted that the two countries were cooperating in a variety of fields, such as energy. Hearing this, Prime Minister Noda said that he would like to further cooperate with Germany, which possesses advanced technology in the fields of energy conservation and renewable energy.

2. Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)

Prime Minister Noda requested Chancellor Merkel to exert leadership in moving the Japan-EU EPA forward. Federal Chancellor Merkel said in response that she would like to address challenges as the issue is also one of interest for the EU.

3. European Debt Crisis

Chancellor Merkel said she would work to ensure that the economic situation in Europe did not adversely affect the global economy. Prime Minister Noda expressed his appreciation of Chancellor Merkel’s leadership in the recent agreement on a comprehensive strategy for the crisis, as well as his expectations that Chancellor Merkel would exert further leadership in ensuring its materialization. Chancellor Merkel said in response that she would strive to meet such expectations.

4. Other

In response to questions posed by Chancellor Merkel, Prime Minister Noda explained the current state of the Japanese economy and progress concerning the third supplementary budget.