Meeting Between Prime Minister Kishida and French Prime Minister Attal (Summary)

On May 1, commencing at 7:00 p.m. local time (2:00 a.m. on May 2, Japan Time) for approximately 40 minutes, Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, who was visiting Paris to attend the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting, held a meeting with H.E. Mr. Gabriel Attal, Prime Minister of the French Republic. The overview is as follows.
This was the first meeting between Prime Minister Kishida and Prime Minister Attal since Prime Minister Attal took the office as Prime Minister of the French Republic.

1. At the outset, congratulating Prime Minister Attal on his appointment, Prime Minister Kishida stated that he would like to remarkably develop Japan-France relations through the Roadmap on Japan-France Cooperation under the “Exceptional Partnership”.
2. In response, Prime Minister Attal stated he was a member of the French-Japanese Parliamentary Friendship Association and had a strong affinity with Japan mentioning his memories of visiting Nara, Japan, and stated that he was delighted to meet Prime Minister Kishida in person this time. Prime Minister Attal also mentioned that he was looking forward to working with Prime Minister Kishida to further strengthen relations with Japan though realization of concrete outcomes.
3. The two sides welcomed the multilayered developments in comprehensive fields such as economy including startups, security, defence, science and technology, culture including Manga and exchanged views on Japan-France future cooperation, including economic security. Prime Minister Attal reiterated his condolences for the passing of the late manga artist Akira Toriyama, known for Dragon Ball, and mentioned that many French people are familiar with Dragon Ball and other Mangas. Furthermore, the two sides expressed expectation 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.
4. In addition, the two sides concurred to closely coordinate between the two countries on the situation in Ukraine and East Asia.