• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 

[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosted a summit meeting and other events with H.E. Mr. Manuel Valls, Prime Minister of the French Republic , at the Prime Minister's Office.

First, the two leaders attended a ceremony by the guard of honor and then held a summit meeting. Following this, the two leaders held a joint press conference.

Afterwards, the Prime Minister hosted a banquet at the Prime Minister's Official Residence and said in his address,

“Bonsoir. Good evening. I welcome Prime Minister Valls and his wife, accomplished violinist Anne, to Japan. My wife Akie and I are greatly honored to be able to invite such important friends from France, our special partner, to our Official Residence.

Today, in addition to welcoming many leading figures from the French business world, from Japan we are joined by leaders in a wide range of fields, from the government and business, to art, fashion, and cuisine. The fact that the Japan-France relationship has developed to the extent it has is thanks to all of you, and I want to express my deep gratitude for that. I would like to ask for your continued active engagement in bilateral relations.

In our talks earlier, we were able to achieve the major accomplishment of agreeing to set innovation, Africa, and nuclear power as three pillars for our cooperation, and pledged to strongly and significantly develop cooperation in these fields moving forward. I hope to set this next year as the ‘Japan-France Innovation Year ’ and undertake various initiatives for innovation in particular. I hope that everyone here will cooperate with us in making this a success.

Across history, Japan and France have had a long history of innovation cooperation. The Yokosuka dockyards opened in 1871 and were constructed under the guidance of the French engineer François Léonce Verny, among others. At the time, they were the most advanced shipyard facilities in Japan. The Tomioka Silk Mill, which was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage last year, made use of French technology as well, and it went on to play an important role in the development of the silk industry across the world.

Such cooperation has continued ceaselessly between our two countries up until the present day, and is now spreading to a wide range of fields, including nuclear power and space. I want the government and private enterprises to continue to cooperate to bolster Japan-France cooperation.

In 2018, we will see the 160th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and France. Over the course of our relationship, we have needed much from each other and have mutually influenced each other. The way that Japanese Ukiyo-e art influenced the French impressionist movement is just one example of this. The same can be said for Japanese Washoku cuisine and French cooking. Throughout the past and today as well, France has always supported Japan.

Partly due to this background, many Japanese people are great fans of France. Every year, 700,000 Japanese people visit France. The number of French people visiting Japan each year is growing as well. I hope that we can further promote exchanges between people in every field, including politics, the economy, and culture, and further deepen the bonds between our countries as special partners.

With that, I would like to raise a toast to the development of both our countries. A votre sante. Cheers.”