The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano, today met with the Japanese Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida, on the fringe of the G20 Ministerial Meeting in Bonn. The talks focused on the excellent bilateral relations between the two Countries.
“Relations between Italy and Japan are enjoying a particularly positive phase: we have similar approaches on many regional and global issues, including the empowerment of women and fighting international terrorism,” Mr Alfano said.
He added: “In particular, Italy and Japan share the same interest and responsibility in consolidating relations between Europe and Asia. The handover between our two Countries’ Presidency of the G7 will consolidate this commitment.”
Mr Alfano emphasised that “the agenda of the Italian Presidency, which sets in with an outlook of broad continuity with Japan’s Presidency, focuses political action on citizens and their needs in terms of social, economic and environmental well-being and security.”
Mr Alfano also expressed the wish to further strengthen the already excellent economic relations, especially “by intensifying the flow of Japanese investment in Italy and cooperating in the area of security and in the defence industry, where there is ample room for building fruitful partnerships between Japanese groups and Italian companies disposing of very high level products and technical solutions.”
Lastly, the meeting offered the opportunity to take stock of the most relevant regional and international dossiers of common interest.
