[Provisional Translation]
"On the Occasion of the G7 Evian Summit — G7 Unity and the Special Partnership between Japan and France"
Looking Ahead to the Evian Summit and Reflecting on President Macron's Visit to Japan
Bonjour to the people of France.
I am TAKAICHI Sanae, Prime Minister of Japan. I am delighted to be visiting the beautiful city of Evian to attend the G7 Summit. In April this year, I had the pleasure of welcoming President Emmanuel Macron and Mrs. Macron to Tokyo, which was a highly meaningful and productive opportunity. I am equally pleased to have the opportunity to visit France on this occasion.
The Challenges Facing the G7 and the Significance of the Evian Summit
The G7 Evian Summit comes at a critically important moment. The leaders of the G7, who share fundamental values and strategic interests such as freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, will gather together to engage in frank and intensive discussions. Through clear messages backed by concrete action, I hope this Summit will demonstrate once again the determination and capability of the G7 to lead the international community in addressing the challenges before us. Under the leadership of President Macron, I am confident that this year’s G7 Evian Summit will produce meaningful and tangible outcomes.
Priorities for the Evian Summit
There are three issues that I will place particular emphasis on at this Summit.
First, responding to the situation in the Middle East and strengthening energy and food security.
As a country with limited natural resources, Japan has long confronted the challenges of energy security. I intend to contribute Japan’s experience and expertise actively to the discussions among G7 leaders. Japan has launched the Partnership for Strengthening Asia’s Energy and Resource Supply Resilience (POWERR Asia), which addresses both immediate and structural challenges. This includes emergency responses such as securing supplies of crude oil and petroleum products across Asia, as well as longer-term efforts to establish stockpiling and release systems, secure critical minerals, diversify energy sources, and promote industrial upgrading.
Second, advancing the updated vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP).
Guided by the principles of freedom, openness, diversity, inclusiveness, and the rule of law, FOIP has resonated with a growing number of countries and has influenced foreign policy making around the world. Against the backdrop of an increasingly severe international environment, I believe it is essential for countries to strengthen the autonomy and resilience necessary to shape their own futures. Based on this conviction, I announced the updated FOIP in May this year, identifying three priority areas: building economic ecosystems for the age of AI and data, co-creating economic frontiers through public-private partnerships, and expanding security cooperation. Cooperation with France, a nation with territories and responsibilities in the Pacific, will become ever more important in advancing this new vision of FOIP. The security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific is indivisible. It is essential that the G7, including France as an Indo-Pacific nation, share a common understanding and act together.
Third, strengthening cooperation with France as the G7 Presidency.
Japan strongly supports France’s priorities, including addressing global economic imbalances, promoting mutually beneficial partnerships with developing and emerging countries, creating a safer digital environment for children, tackling migration and illicit drugs, and accelerating efforts against cancer.I am determined to work closely with France and contribute to achieving concrete outcomes in each of these areas at the Evian Summit.
Japan-France Relations
Japan and France are “Exceptional Partners” that share fundamental values and principles. At our summit meeting in Tokyo this April, we issued the Japan-France Joint Statement and confirmed our intention to strengthen cooperation in such areas as security and defense, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, civil nuclear energy, and space.
In particular, cooperation in the space sector is advancing steadily. In addition to the announcement of twelve new cooperation initiatives, President Macron and I visited Astroscale, a Japanese company at the forefront of orbital services technologies. The company, together with the French company Exotrail, is engaged in the development of in-orbit servicing technologies, including technologies for the removal of space debris. Such industrial cooperation between Japan and France serves as an important driver of the development of our bilateral relationship. I welcome the steady implementation of the Japan-France Roadmap on Cooperation (2023–2027), which continues to guide our partnership across a wide range of fields.
In 2028, Japan and France will celebrate the 170th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations. I sincerely hope that the bonds between our two countries, strengthened through multilayered exchanges ranging from government-to-government cooperation to people-to-people and private-sector ties, will continue to deepen in the years ahead.