Speeches and Statements by the Prime Minister Full Passage : Press Conference by Your Imperial Highness Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during His Visit to Turkey

Speeches and Statements by the Prime Minister Full Passage

 

[caption id="attachment_3745" align="alignnone" width="600"] （トルコでの歓迎式典 (Photo: 首相官邸) (Reception Ceremony in Turkey (Photo: Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet)[/caption]

 

Press Conference by Your Imperial Highness Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during His Visit to Turkey

 

Opening Statement

 

YOUR IMPERIAL HIGHNESS PRIME MINISTER SHINZO ABE: During this trip, I have visited four countries: Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and now Turkey.

 

Since I spoke about my visit to Russia during the Joint Press Conference I held with President Putin, today I would like to focus on the outcomes of my visit to countries in the Middle East.

 

The goal of this visit to the Middle East has been to go beyond the relationship we have had thus far centered on resources and energy, such as the sale and purchase of petroleum, to forge economic cooperation across a wide range of fields and furthermore a multi-faceted relationship that includes politics and security as well as culture.

 

Against the backdrop of this goal, in Saudi Arabia, in the first policy speech on Middle Eastern issues ever given by a Japanese Prime Minister, I declared that we would conduct a full-scale strengthening of Japan's relations with the Middle East region in order to achieve a "comprehensive partnership towards stability and prosperity."

 

In addition, the most significant feature of this visit was that I have been accompanied by our largest and most high-powered economic mission ever, with more than 100 persons in total representing Japan's business circles, including the agriculture and medical services sectors.

 

They have sold Japan's "strengths" very cogently.

 

This was truly the start of full-scale economic diplomacy.

 

I would like to overview the contents of this multi-faceted relationship one by one.

 

The three key words are "collaboration," "coexistence and prosperity," and "tolerance and harmony."

 

The first of these is "collaboration," which is to say, cooperation in the areas of politics and security.

 

The stability of the Middle East region also contributes to the security of Japan.

 

Japan will play a greater political role in fostering stability in the region through cooperation such as assistance for counter-terrorism and security enhancement, regional stabilization, and democratization.

 

In order to achieve this goal, we have decided newly to provide the Middle East and [North] Africa region with assistance amounting to US$2.2 billion.

 

In addition, during this visit, in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, we agreed to launch security dialogues.

 

The second key word is "coexistence and prosperity," which means an expansion and a deepening of our economic relations.

 

The high degree of latent economic potential in the Middle East region is directly linked to Japan's growth.

 

I would like to build linkages that go beyond an energy-centric framework.

 

In particular, I felt very acutely these countries' strong interest in tasty and healthful Japanese agricultural products and in Japan's state-of-the-art medical equipment and technologies.

 

As these are things that connect directly with improvements in the quality of life of the people in these countries, this cooperation brings us mutual benefits.

 

One major outcome has been that during this visit, a considerable number of documents related to inter-corporate cooperation have been drawn up, and the gears of cooperation have now begun turning.

 

Moreover, keen interest was also shown in Japan's state-of-the-art technologies in the area of nuclear power, and three agreements regarding nuclear power cooperation were signed. In particular, here in Turkey, it was decided to confer on Japan exclusive negotiating rights regarding the "Sinop Nuclear Power Plant Project."

 

I consider it Japan's duty to share with the world the experiences and the lessons gained through the severe accident and contribute to the improvement of nuclear safety.

 

The third key word is "tolerance and harmony," namely through a strengthening of cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

 

We will engage in cooperation in human resources development and education showing understanding and respect towards each other's history and culture.

 

In concrete terms, together with Middle Eastern countries, over the next five years, we will implement training programs for trainees and deploy specialists, involving approximately 20,000 participants in total.

 

In addition, we will increase the number of Middle Eastern students studying in Japan.

 

As I laid out above, my visit has been a turning point for building multi-layered relations between Japan and Middle Eastern countries.

 

I would like to express my thanks once again to all those in these four countries who welcomed me so cordially.

 

(Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet, R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 3 May 2013)