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Prime Minister Attends the Annual Meeting of
the World Economic Forum (the Davos Meeting)
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Click photographs to enlarge
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Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda visited the Swiss Confederation on January 25 to attend the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (the Davos Meeting) held in Davos, Switzerland on January 26. The Meeting, held around this time every year since 1971 by the World Economic Forum based in Geneva, Switzerland, serves as a gathering place for political and economic leaders and scholars from countries around the world. It is called the Davos Meeting after the name of the town where it takes place.
At this year's Meeting, Prime Minister Fukuda delivered a special speech in which he discussed three major themes: the world economy, climate change, and development and Africa. Regarding the world economy, Prime Minister Fukuda said that the risk of the global economy taking a downward turn is increasing against the backdrop of the sub-prime mortgage loan problem in the United States and the surge of petroleum prices to record levels, among other issues, and that, in light of this, he would formulate an economic growth strategy in concrete terms. As part of this, the Prime Minister expressed his intention to continue advancing efforts towards market liberalization, including reforms in the areas of foreign direct investment in Japan, trade procedures, and the financial and capital markets, thereby enabling the Japanese economy to expand in step with growth around the globe. Concerning climate change, the Prime Minister said he would discuss it as a top priority at the Hokkaido Toyako G8 Summit, to be chaired by Japan in July this year. He then announced his "Cool Earth Promotion Programme," designed to advance the set of strategies Japan had proposed last year called "Cool Earth 50." As part of the Programme, Prime Minister Fukuda proposed to set a global target of 30% improvement of energy efficiency by 2020. Furthermore, he presented plans to establish a new financial mechanism, Cool Earth Partnership, on the scale of US$10 billion. Through this, he said, Japan will cooperate actively with developing countries' efforts to reduce emissions, such as efforts to enhance energy efficiency, and, at the same time, will extend the hand of assistance to developing countries suffering severe adverse impacts as a result of climate change. Concerning development and Africa, the Prime Minister said he would convene the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD IV, in Yokohama in May to advance discussions on African development under the theme of "Towards a Vibrant Africa." He concluded his speech with a message that Japan would exercise leadership in the interest of enhancing the stability and prosperity of international society. Afterwards the Prime Minister held talks with key figures from economic circles, as well as with Mr. Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and with Mr. Pascal Couchepin, the President of the Swiss Confederation.
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