Countries & Regions

On June 3, commencing at 10:15 a.m. for around 15 minutes, Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs, received a courtesy call from Mr. Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), who was visiting Japan to attend the 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V). The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. Minister Kishida started the meeting by welcoming the participation in TICAD for the first time by UNODC, which is the only body within the United Nations system that addresses terrorism and organized crime, and he expressed his hope for UNODC's future contribution to TICAD and strengthening of collaboration and cooperation between Japan and UNODC.
2. Executive Director Fedotov responded by thanking Japan for inviting UNODC to TICAD and for its support for UNODC. He stated that TICAD V is the important step for international community to support Africa jointly and that UNODC will make its utmost efforts in realizing the decision at TICAD V. He added that he expects Japan to continue its support, including its collaboration with UNODC in the Africa region.
3. Minister Kishida stated that in response to the incident in Algeria, Japan put forth a policy of enhancing measures against international terrorism and transnational organized crime which lays behind terrorism, including illicit trade of weapons and narcotics, etc. He added that Japan is pleased, with the realization of technical assistance projects countering terrorism in the North Africa and Sahel region with the cooperation of UNODC.
4. Minister Kishida also mentioned that collaboration between Japan and UNODC to date has produced significant results in the fields of countering terrorism, illicit narcotics, and human trafficking, etc., in regions such as Afghanistan and Southeast Asia.
5. The two sides then shared the view that Japan and UNODC would further strengthen their collaborative relationship in the future, in accordance with the Japan and UNODC Joint Plan of Action that had been signed the day before (2 June).