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On December 14, 2017, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosted a summit meeting and other events with H.E. Mr. Htin Kyaw, President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, at the Prime Minister's Office.

The two leaders attended a salute and guard of honor ceremony, and then held a summit meeting. Thereafter, the leaders held a joint press announcement.

Later, the Prime Minister hosted a dinner banquet at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence and said in his address,

“I would like to extend a heartfelt welcome to H.E. Mr. Htin Kyaw, President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, and his wife on their visit to Japan. This marks the first time that the President of Myanmar has visited Japan, and I was told that for President Htin Kyaw, this is his first trip to our country in nearly 40 years. I am very pleased to welcome you to Japan as President on your first trip back in 40 years.
 
President Htin Kyaw’s father Mr. Min Thu Wun lived in Japan in the 1970s when he was a visiting professor at Osaka University of Foreign Languages. He also took part in the editing of a Japanese-Myanmarese dictionary.
 
Two years have passed since the historic change of government in Myanmar. I believe that the people of Myanmar are very proud of President Htin Kyaw for administering the government together with H.E. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
 
I hear that recently there is a growing desire among the people of Myanmar to learn Japanese. I am very pleased to hear this, but the popularity of Japanese is growing so fast that the education of Japanese language teachers cannot keep up with the demand. Therefore, I ask that all of you in attendance today, including those of you from the private sector, help us to dispatch Japanese language teachers to Myanmar.
 
There were more than 20,000 applicants for this year’s Japanese Language Proficiency Test in Myanmar. This is the largest number of applicants ever in Myanmar and the third largest in ASEAN, trailing only Vietnam and Thailand. Myanmar also has the sixth largest number of applicants worldwide.
 
The number of students wishing to attend the Japanese language departments of foreign language universities in Yangon and Mandalay indicates that the popularity of Japanese is second only to that of English.
 
Furthermore, the number of Japanese companies setting up operations in Myanmar has increased six-fold compared to just five years ago. As a result, there will continue to be growing demand for human resources who are proficient in Japanese. I believe that if President Htin Kyaw’s father were still with us today, he would be asked to help edit a new updated dictionary containing economic terms and other words of the times.
 
There are a large number of Myanmar fans in Japan, too. Everyone who visits Myanmar becomes a fan of the country. My father, too, visited Myanmar when he was Minister for Foreign Affairs and he became enthralled with the country. I traveled with my father on his trip to Myanmar and, to this day, I still remember my father saying yes to every request of Myanmar’s Foreign Minister, and then the Director-General, who was also attending the meeting, passing a note that said ‘Minister, please control yourself.’ I am a staunch fan of Myanmar and my wife even wrote her master’s thesis on temple schools in Myanmar.
 
At this evening’s dinner banquet, we are joined by many Japanese people who have a thorough understanding of Myanmar’s appeal and who have been similarly captivated by Myanmar. We are also joined by people who have helped to develop relations between our two countries.
 
It is truly thanks to your efforts that Japan and Myanmar have a strong relationship as we see today. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere appreciation and ask for your continued assistance in developing relations between Japan and Myanmar.
 
I would now like to offer a toast with the hope that this visit by President Htin Kyaw and his wife will take the relationship between our two countries to even greater heights.”