Japan-Finland Summit Meeting and Working Dinner (Summary)

On December 10, commencing at 6:20 p.m., for approximately 30 minutes, Mr. ISHIBA Shigeru, Prime Minister of Japan, held a summit meeting with H.E. Mr. Petteri ORPO, Prime Minister of the Republic of Finland, who is visiting Japan. Commencing at 6:50 p.m., the two leaders also had a working dinner for approximately 60 minutes. The overview of the events is as follows.
 
1. Opening Remarks
     Prime Minister Ishiba welcomed Prime Minister Orpo's visit to Japan, and expressed his desire to steadily build on security cooperation in light of Finland's accession to NATO, and cooperation in cutting-edge science and technology fields such as 5G, 6G and supercomputing.
     In response, Prime Minister Orpo stated that Japan and Finland have a long-standing friendship and that he hoped today's meeting would be an opportunity to further develop the bilateral relationship.
 
2. Bilateral Relations
(1) The two leaders welcomed deepening cooperation between the two countries in a wide range of fields. They also concurred on strengthening Japan-Finland relations, including economic relations, through the visit of the business delegation to Japan and the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai.
(2) The two leaders concurred on promoting cooperation in the security field as well as to strengthen cooperation between Japan and Finland in the NATO context. In this regard, the two leaders welcomed the commencement of negotiations on the Agreement between the Government of Japan and the Government of Finland concerning the Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology.
 
3. Regional Issues
(1) The two leaders shared the recognition that unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force is unacceptable, and shared serious concern over the advancement of Russia-North Korea military cooperation amid Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including the deployment of North Korea’s troops to Russia and their engagement in combat against Ukraine.
(2) The two leaders concurred on continuing to work together as the security of Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific is increasingly inseparable.