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Prime Minister's Diary

The ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit

Partnership for peace and stability

2013 marks the 40th year of ASEAN-Japan friendship and cooperation.

On December 14 2013, the heads of ASEAN member states and Japan gathered in Tokyo at the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit to commemorate the 40th Anniversary. Prime Minister Abe said at press conference following the summit.

"We recently succeeded in reaching substantive agreement on rules for investments and services under the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP). We will create an economic area between Japan and ASEAN in which not only trade in goods but also trade in services and investments circulate freely. Japan and ASEAN are partners working toward prosperity.

Together, we will achieve prosperity.
Together we advance; together we prosper. For that reason, Japan and ASEAN must together maintain peace. Without freedom of the seas and freedom of the skies, we can look forward to neither an interchange of people nor vibrant trade. The principles of dispute settlement based on international law and the rule of law are what form the foundation of progress and of prosperity. That is precisely why Japan and ASEAN must be partners for peace and stability."

Japan-Turkey Summit Meeting

On January 7, Prime Minister Abe hosted a welcome ceremony for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey. In the afternoon, the Prime Minister held talks with Prime Minister Erdoğan. In the evening, the Prime Minister and Mrs. Abe held a banquet. The Prime Minister said in his address,

“I was welcomed by everyone on my two visits to Turkey last year. I wish to again express my gratitude for that.
The Ertuğrul Frigate and the rescue of Japanese in Tehran International Airport are shared parts of our history. Turkey returned the assistance it had received at sea 95 years later in the air.

And then there is also the selfless assistance our countries offered to each other during the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Earthquake in the Republic of Turkey’s Eastern Region. I expect that these bonds forged between our peoples will continue to grow even stronger and that connections will be made at an even deeper level.

Tonight we have prepared a cuisine befitting our two countries, which so brilliantly fuse the cultures of the East and West.
Finally, we have also prepared some Japanese fruit that is currently in season. I very much hope that you will enjoy it.”

 

Photographs and text courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and the Cabinet Public Relations Office of the Government of Japan.

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