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Japan-Central America Summit Meeting Thursday, August 18, 2005 JAPANESE Click photographs to enlarge Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi held a meeting with the presidents and vice presidents of the seven Central American countries at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. The summit meeting was attended by the presidents of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras, as well as the vice presidents of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic, which are all member and associate member countries of the Central American Integration System (Sistema de Integracion Centroamericana: SICA). At the beginning of the meeting, Prime Minister Koizumi stated that, "It is a great pleasure that all of us are assembled here today to exchange opinions during the 'Japan-Central America Year 2005.' Taking this summit meeting as an opportunity, I intend to further develop the relations between Japan and Central America. I wish to exchange opinions with the aim to further develop our medium- and long-term relations based on the friendly and cooperative relations we have built so far." Mr. Jose Rizo Castellon, the Vice President of Nicaragua, delivered an address on behalf of the Central American leaders and expressed his support for Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council. He also touched upon various topics including the Korean Peninsula, economic liberalization, tourism, culture, poverty, among others. Vice President Castellon also stated that, "On behalf of the Central American countries, I would like to express my gratitude towards the friendly country of Japan for its advice and assistance. We hope to continue our friendly relations." At the summit meeting, the "Tokyo Declaration" which is entitled "Japan and Central America, Friends United Toward the Future" was issued and an action plan which covers intergovernmental dialogues, economic relations, cultural cooperation and more in order to promote the strengthening of ties between the people and governments was adopted. At the joint press conference held after the summit meeting, Prime Minister Koizumi commented, "Japan and the Central American countries must cooperate in dealing with the global issues, namely with regard to the UN reform, World Trade Organization (WTO), International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the environment, and I believe we are capable of doing this." Prime Minister Koizumi also expressed his gratitude for the support shown by the Central American countries towards Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Related Link: Joint Press Conference Following the Japan-Central America Summit Meeting View Video (Available only in Japanese) Real(Narrowband) / Real(Broadband) Windows Media(Narrowband) / Windows Media(Broadband)