Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama held talks with H.E. Mr. Michael Somare, Prime Minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, at the Prime Minister's Office.

At the beginning, Prime Minister Hatoyama said, "I welcome Prime Minister Somare's visit to Japan. Japan is eager to further strengthen its relations with Papua New Guinea, a major nation in this region. I expect that Japan-Papua New Guinea relations will become even closer through the opening of the new office building of the Embassy of Papua New Guinea in Japan and an increased number of direct flights between the two countries, which will be two per week."

In response, Prime Minister Somare stated, "I appreciate the invitation to visit Japan. I am pleased that this visit to Japan has provided me with an opportunity to take a further step to strengthen cooperative relations with Japan."