Top > What's up around the Prime Minister > November, 2005

The First Day of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting Friday, November 18, 2005 JAPANESE [Official APEC Photograph] [Official APEC Photograph] Click photographs to enlarge Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left Haneda Airport on the government plane a little after 9 a.m. on November 18 and arrived at Gimhae Airport Air Force Base in Busan, Republic of Korea (ROK) approximately two hours later to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting. At the unofficial APEC summit meeting held in the afternoon at a convention hall within BEXCO, discussions took place over issues concerning economy and commerce. The multilateral trade negotiations (Doha Round) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) were at the heart of the discussions at the meeting, and the member economies reconfirmed the importance of the negotiations and agreed to cooperate for the success of the negotiations. Following a dialogue with ABAC (APEC Business Advisory Council), Prime Minister Koizumi held a meeting with Mr. Roh Moo Hyun, the President of the ROK. At the meeting, the leaders held a frank exchange of opinions on matters of common interest to both countries, such as bilateral relations and North Korea issues. Prime Minister Koizumi also held a meeting with Mr. Ricardo Lagos Escobar, the President of the Republic of Chile, and the leaders agreed to launch negotiations on an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Japan and Chile. On the evening of the same day, Prime Minister Koizumi inspected the demonstrations given by the local IT industry and attended the Gala Dinner, a special celebratory banquet which was held during the two-day meeting. View Video (Available only in Japanese) Real(Narrowband) / Real(Broadband) Windows Media(Narrowband) / Windows Media(Broadband)