Countries & Regions

(1) At the start of the meeting, Foreign Minister Kishida stated that he was pleased to visit Hungary following the Japan-Hungary Summit Meeting and the Visegrad Group (V4) plus Japan Summit Meeting in Warsaw in June. Mr. Kishida also said he welcomes the visit to Japan by Prime Minister Orbán that is planned for later in the current fiscal year. He added that Japan hopes to work closely with Hungary, which holds the V4 Presidency, in order to promote the further development of relations between the two countries and to strengthen the V4 plus Japan framework.

(2) Foreign Minister Kishida expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Orbán for supporting Japanese businesses operating in Hungary through the conclusion of strategic cooperation agreements with them. He also expressed his expectation that relations between Japan and Hungary will develop further, based on the Agreement on Social Security signed after the Foreign Minister's Meeting and asked for the cooperation of Prime Minister Orbán for the early entry-into-force of the agreement. Prime Minister Orbán said he appreciates Japanese companies for their great contribution on Hungary's economy.

(1) Foreign Minister Kishida said that he highly values the outcome of the V4 plus Japan Summit Meeting in June. He also said that the Summit Meeting sent out the message that Japan and the V4 will jointly address a range of issues in the international community. He also touched upon a set of agreements in the Summit Meeting on cooperation in the security field and on support for the Eastern Partnership (EaP) the Western Balkan countries.

(2) Foreign Minister Kishida noted that in order to follow up the V4 plus Japan Summit, seminars on Official Development Assistance (ODA) and security issues are scheduled to be held during the period of Hungary's V4 Presidency. He also stated that Japan hopes to work with Hungary to promote events related to the Year of Exchange for the V4 plus Japan in 2014.

Prime Minister Orbán said Hungary has called for the early conclusion of the negotiation on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Japan and the European Union (EU), which is expected to bring great benefits to the EU. Prime Minister Orbán and Foreign Minister Kishida reaffirmed continuing cooperation between Japan and Hungary for the early conclusion of the negotiation on the EPA and Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between Japan and the EU.

Prime Minister Orbán said he is paying close attention to the efforts to revitalize the Japanese economy that have been promoted under the strong leadership of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He expressed his expectation for a revival of the Japanese economy, saying it is also important for the Hungarian economy. In response, Foreign Minister Kishida explained the "three arrows" of the Abenomics, the economic policy mix of Prime Minister Abe. He said Japan hopes to contribute to the world by engineering a revival of the Japanese economy.