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| (Provisional Translation) |
Opening Statement by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Prime Minister Helen Clark of New Zealand at the joint Press Conference |
Wellington, May 2, 2002 |
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Prime Minister Helen Clark of New Zealand: It is my pleasure to receive Prime Minister Koizumi and to have the opportunity to talk with him again. We met first last year at the APEC Leaders' Summit in Shanghai, and today we have been able to focus on the bilateral relationship between Japan and New Zealand and to talk about many areas in which New Zealand and Japan have common cause and common interest.
New Zealand and Japan are two very, very close countries. Japan is our third largest export market. It is the source of many of our visitors. It is the source of many of the international students who come to our country. It is the source of many of our imports. And there is at the level of local government, of sports, of cultural groups, an ongoing range of contacts, which is very great indeed. Today, we have talked again about the initiative I went to Japan with last April, which was to seek a new level of engagement for New Zealand in Japan, particularly focusing on those sectors where there are not significant barriers to progress like tourism, like education, like scientific and technical industries cooperation, like forestry, and like deepening the people-to-people contacts. Of particular interest to me today has been the discussion we have had on the Kyoto Protocol, which the Japanese Government is also taking a great interest in ratifying. And I have been able to tell Mr. Koizumi today that the New Zealand Government is also taking a great interest in ratifying; I have been able to tell Mr. Koizumi today that the New Zealand Government also is moving towards ratification and has just this week outlined the way it believes New Zealand can meet its commitments under the Protocol. It is clear that there is a lot of research, a lot of environmental technology development in Japan, which is of great interest to New Zealand. In this respect, Japan is very advanced on waste disposal and on environmental technologies in general, and we need to learn a lot from each other in these areas as we both strive to tackle the climate change problem. We have had a good discussion on security issues, on the post-11 September environment, on the issues around Afghanistan, also on East Timor, which Mr. Koizumi has just visited. Mr. Koizumi has spoken to us directly of his vision for an East Asian community. Most welcome to us from the outset has been his determination to see the inclusion of New Zealand, along with Australia, in such an East Asian community. We have also touched today on the great importance of the new Doha Development Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO). We have also touched on those issues, small in number, where New Zealand and Japan do not agree. They cover issues of whaling, of fisheries, of nuclear waste transport. But we have both stressed that these are small number of issues, albeit significant, in a very big, positive relationship which exists between us. Finally, Mr. Koizumi also raised with us the issue of North Korea, which continues to be of concern to its near neighbor, Japan. New Zealand undertakes, through the diplomatic relationship it has now established with North Korea, to continue to advocate to North Korea directly that it open up to the outside world and address longstanding issues for Japan, like the abduction issue. For us, it has been a wonderful opportunity to see Mr. Koizumi directly and have this dialogue, and we are very pleased to have him in New Zealand, for the first bilateral visit by a Japanese Prime Minister for five years.
In the meeting with Prime Minister Clark, we agreed that in general our bilateral relations are good. With my visit this time we would like to further strengthen and expand our already good relations. We agreed on that. In April last year, Prime Minister Clark visited Japan and had a meeting with my predecessor, Prime Minister Mori, and on that occasion made several concrete proposals, including tourism, people-to-people exchange, forestry, science and technology. In fact, working-level consultations are proceeding in these areas and the Government of Japan wishes to provide active support to these endeavors and translate into reality the proposals that Prime Minister Clark had made for the future. Now, earlier this year in January I delivered a speech in Singapore with an initiative for a growing East Asian community, and I explained about this idea of mine. We in Japan hope that New Zealand would be a core member of this community together with other countries. Of course, bilaterally close relations are important, but it is important to establish closer regional relations as well. Such regional relations need to be strengthened always bearing in mind the overall relations with the entire world and international cooperation. With regard to the fight against terrorism, the world community as a whole is fighting terrorism with resolve and Japan through close cooperation and coordination with New Zealand wishes to fight terrorism with firm resolve. I believe that we have agreed on that as well. We reaffirmed our common position regarding the conclusion of the Kyoto Protocol. As far as Japan is concerned, I explained that we are making efforts to see to it that the Kyoto Protocol will be ratified during this current session of the Diet. New Zealand has also shown much interest in global warming issues, in environmental issues, so we believe that we can make further progress in our cooperation in this area as well. We also agreed, as far as Japan is concerned, with regard to East Timor, Japan is determined to play a further role for the nation-building of East Timor, and of course I believe that Japan has a role to play which would be different from other countries' roles. But in cooperation with New Zealand, and through continued consultations with the United Nations, we will find out which specific areas we can play our roles and cooperate with New Zealand in this process of overall nation-building of East Timor as well. Overall, in my meeting with Prime Minister Clark today I believe the sense was that areas for cooperation between Japan and New Zealand would further continue to expand, and also quality-wise and quantity-wise, I am sure that the exchange of people between our two countries will continue to expand. Also, on numerous international agendas, I believe our two countries can share common values. I believe it was quite meaningful that we were able to reaffirm those points in our meeting today.
So, I hope that, on the occasion of my visit to New Zealand this time, our two countries will further strengthen cooperation not just in the interest of closer ties between our two countries but also so that our two countries will be able to share our values with regard to numerous international issues so that we can exchange our views on those matters on international agenda and further strengthen our cooperation. Once again, I should like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the very warm welcome extended to me by Prime Minister Clark and the Government of New Zealand.
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