Top �� What's up around the Prime Minister �� March, 2004

The First Meeting of the Council of Related Ministers for the Promotion of Economic Partnership Tuesday, March 30, 2004 The first meeting of the Council of Related Ministers for the Promotion of Economic Partnership was held in the National Diet Building. Efforts to conclude a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (EPA) with countries with which Japan is strongly interdependent in the political and economic areas have an extremely substantial strategic significance not only in the economic aspect but also for the future of Japan. The Council of Related Ministers for the Promotion of Economic Partnership was newly established to carry forward comprehensive efforts on economic partnership under close communication with and coordination of the government as a whole. Addressing the meeting, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said, "The efforts for economic partnership facilitate and provide indirect assistance to structural reform, while supported by the structural reform effort by the Koizumi Cabinet. Although the pains associated with the structural reform may occur in some areas, I would like these efforts to be carried forward with a sense of speed as a priority issue for the Koizumi Cabinet."