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Lord Malloch-Brown makes courtesy call on Foreign Minister Koumura
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January 23, 2008
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On 17 January, Foreign Minister Koumura received a courtesy call from Lord Malloch-Brown, Minister of State (Africa, Asia and the United Nations) of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The visit lasted approximately 30 minutes. The contents of their discussion were as follows:
- Foreign Minister Koumura began by welcoming Lord Malloch-Brown, who had come to Japan to attend the opening ceremony of UK-Japan 2008, which celebrates the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and the United Kingdom. He looked forward to further substantial growth in the two countries’ cooperation.
- In reply, Lord Malloch-Brown thanked the Government of Japan for its new legislation enabling the resumption of Japan’s refuelling activities for allied ships in the Indian Ocean, and expressed his appreciation of the efforts of the Japanese government in this regard. Foreign Minister Koumura responded by affirming that Japan would continue to cooperate closely with the United Kingdom and would fulfil its responsibility as a member of the international community in the endeavour to prevent and eradicate terrorism.
- Lord Malloch-Brown then expressed his strong support for the 4th Tokyo International Conference on African Development hosted by Japan and declared the importance of linking what is achieved at TICAD IV in terms of assistance for African with the deliberations at the Hokkaido Toyako Summit. Foreign Minister Koumura commented that development and aid for Africa constitute one of the most pressing issues, and that Japan would work with the UK to ensure that the achievements of TICAD IV would be addressed at the Summit.
- Foreign Minister Koumura and Lord Malloch-Brown concluded their meeting by exchanging views on other issues, including the situation in Asia in the light of events in Myanmar.
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