Japan-France Summit Working Lunch (Summary)

On May 2, commencing at 1:35 p.m. local time (8:35 p.m. on May 2, Japan Time) for approximately 2 hours, Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, who was visiting Paris to attend the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting, held a summit working lunch with H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic. The overview is as follows.

1. At the outset, Prime Minister Kishida stated that he was delighted to visit Paris for the first time since January last year and welcomed the steady implementation of the Roadmap on Japan-France Cooperation under the “Exceptional Partnership” announced with President Macron last December. In response, President Macron welcomed Prime Minister Kishida’s visit to Paris on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Japan's accession to the OECD and stated the importance of close cooperation between Japan and France in the current international situation.

2. Welcoming the multilayered developments of Japan-France cooperation in Indo-Pacific, the two leaders agreed on commencement of negotiations on the Japan-France Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) and concurred that they will make steady progress in negotiations. The two leaders welcomed the signing of “Japan-France Declaration on Cooperation in The Field of Critical Minerals” and concurred to strengthen further cooperation in the area of economic security. Both leaders also welcomed the strengthened relations between Japan and France in the fields of economy, science and technology such as the strengthening of cooperation in the field of startup, including Japan’s participation in the VivaTech as the country of the year and the renewal of “General Agreement on The Fast Reactors Development Program Collaboration between Japan and France”. On AI, bearing in mind the AI Summit to be hosted by France, which is scheduled to take place early next year, the two leaders concurred to coordinate towards the realization of safe, secure, and reliable AI such as through “Hiroshima AI Process”. Moreover, Prime Minister Kishida welcomed France’s participation in the “FMCT Friends”, and the two leaders concurred to strengthen cooperation in the field of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The two leaders welcomed the progress of strengthening cooperation in protection of our respective nationals in third countries and Prime Minister Kishida expressed his gratitude for supports from the Government of France in the evacuation of Japanese nationals from Sudan and Niger last year and Haiti last March.

3. Furthermore, the two leaders expressed their expectations that exchanges between the two countries will be enhanced such as through the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 this summer and the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan next year. The two leaders concurred to further strengthen cultural exchanges between France and Japan, including in the field of manga, such as 'Dragon Ball'. In this connection, Prime Minister Kishida stated that he had prepared Edo-kiriko glasses of 'Dragon Ball' as a gift, for which President Macron expressed his gratitude.

4. In addition, the two leaders exchanged views on various issues of the international community which include the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific situation including China and North Korea including the nuclear and missile issues and the abductions issue and concurred to coordinate closely between the two leaders and to further strengthen coordination among the G7.

[Reference]
The Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) is an agreement which establishes in particular procedures for the cooperative activities conducted by defence force of one country while visiting the other country, and defines a status of the visiting force.