The 23rd Argentina-Japan Political Consultations Meeting was held today at the Palacio San Martín. The Meeting was chaired by the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Pedro Villagra Delgado, and the Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister and G-20 Sherpa, Keiichi Katakami.
This political dialogue mechanism created in 1993 is a valuable tool to continue strengthening cooperation between the two countries as strategic partners that share fundamental values in several fields.
The Deputy Foreign Ministers highlighted the excellent status of the bilateral relations and agreed to continue strengthening political, economic and commercial and investment exchanges, including access to the Japanese market for Argentine agri-products, and to make progress in the agreements under negotiation. They also underscored the importance of the Working Holidays Agreement, which will facilitate tourism and youth exchanges, thus reinforcing cooperation and broadening the understanding of the cultures and ways of life of the two peoples. It was agreed to work actively on the organization of ceremonies for next year's commemoration of the 120th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Furthermore, the delegations addressed such important items on the bilateral agenda as the strengthening of technical cooperation, particularly human resources training and competitiveness improvement, and the importance of increasing triangular cooperation in Latin America and Africa. The delegations also addressed prospects for cooperation in education and sports, and underscored their interest in strengthening the bilateral relations in the field of scientific cooperation in the Antarctic. In addition, they reviewed topics of mutual interest regarding the respective regions and the major items on the global agenda.
During the meeting, the delegations highlighted Argentina's active involvement in the international community, as reflected by its hosting of the 2017 WTO Ministerial Conference and the upcoming 2018 G-20 Presidency, as well as the closer ties with the OECD. The delegations also discussed cooperation opportunities between MERCOSUR and Japan.
As regards the G-20, there was a candid exchange of views on the status of several topics under discussion within the framework of the German Presidency of the Forum in the run-up to the Leaders' Summit to be held in Hamburg, and also on ways to achieve concrete progress and practical results during the Argentine Presidency.
Press release No. 229/17
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