Cabinet Secretariat [Monday, March 13, 2017]
Japan-Saudi Arabia Summit Meeting and Other Events
[Provisional Translation]
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosted a summit meeting and other events with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, at the Prime Minister’s Office.
The two leaders attended a salute and ceremony by the guard of honor and then held a summit meeting. After that, the leaders attended a signing ceremony for a memorandum of cooperation.
Lastly, the Prime Minister hosted a banquet at the Prime Minister's Official Residence and said in his address,
“On behalf of the Japanese Government and Japanese people, I want to extend my heartfelt welcome to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to Japan. This visit marks the first visit to Japan by the King of Saudi Arabia in 46 years, since the visit by King Faisal in 1971.
I feel a deep connection to Saudi Arabia. My grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, made efforts to deepen the ties between Japan and Saudi Arabia. When he visited Saudi Arabia in 1970, he directly approached King Faisal about visiting Japan. When the King visited Japan, he had a meal with my grandfather at his private residence in Gotemba. I do not think it is by chance that I am now able to welcome the second visit to Japan by a King of Saudi Arabia.
Today we are writing a new page that will be etched in history. Today we created a vision for the future of the Japan-Saudi Arabia cooperative relationship, which is sure to last for a long time.
It is a pleasure that I, together with everyone who is contributing to the development of relations between Japan and Saudi Arabia in a wide-range of fields, including politics, the economy, and culture, can offer our hospitality to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King. I hope that this will be a night in which everyone will celebrate the friendship of our two countries, full of discussions on the promising future of that relationship.”
Cabinet Secretariat [Wednesday, March 15, 2017]
Japan-Mozambique Summit Meeting and Other Events
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosted a summit meeting and other events with H.E. Mr. Filipe Jacinto Nyusi , President of the Republic of Mozambique, at the Prime Minister's Office.
The two leaders attended a salute and guard of honor ceremony, followed by a summit meeting. Thereafter, the leaders attended a signing ceremony and held a joint press announcement.
Cabinet Secretariat [Tuesday, March 14, 2017]
Courtesy Call from Students of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
[Provisional Translation]
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a courtesy call from students of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University at the Prime Minister's Office.
The Prime Minister said in his address,
“I am pleased to welcome students of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where distinguished students from all over the world gather, to the Prime Minister's Office.
I heard that you will be visiting Fukushima. Six years have now passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and nuclear power accident. I am making efforts for the reconstruction of Fukushima and recovery from the nuclear disaster.
The reconstruction of the areas affected by the disaster is advancing steadily, and Japan has regained the economic strength to enable it to carry out such reconstruction. Over the last four years, Japan’s nominal GDP has grown 9.5% and the unemployment rate is 3.1%.
We believe that social disparities are a major issue amidst the various changes occurring in the United States and Europe. In Japan, we conduct our policies while paying attention to trends in such disparities.
In response to a question that was posed, Japan, along with the United States, showed leadership toward achieving agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It is very unfortunate that the U.S. is withdrawing from the TPP, but at the recent Japan-U.S. Summit Meeting, both sides came to the same recognition regarding the importance of creating a free and fair economic sphere.
In regard to future economic relations between Japan and the United States, although President Trump did not mention a Japan-United States free trade agreement at our previous Japan-U.S. Summit Meeting, in regard to what is necessary so that Japan and the United States can create a win-win economic relationship, it has been agreed to launch a framework for a new economic dialogue led by Vice President Pence and Deputy Prime Minister Aso. Since Vice President Pence plans to visit Japan as soon as next month, we would like to kick off the framework for the economic dialogue.
At the same time, Japan would like to be the standard-bearer for free trade, and within the 11 participating countries for the TPP including Japan, we would like to continue to act as the centripetal force with the ideals that we have been seeking.”
