Japan-South Africa Foreign Ministers’ Meeting

On August 21 commencing at 1:05 p.m. for approximately 20 minutes, Mr. IWAYA Takeshi, Minister for Foreign Affairs, held a meeting with Honourable Mr. Ronald LAMOLA, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa, who is visiting Japan to participate in the in the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9). The overview of the meeting is as follows:

1. At the outset, Minister IWAYA welcomed expressed his respect for the leadership of Minister Lamola as the G20 Presidency and stated that Japan would like to cooperate closely with South Africa in order to create synergy between the achievements of TICAD 9 and the G20 Summit. In response, Minister Lamola expressed his gratitude for the hospitality extended by Japan during his visit and welcomed the successful holding of TICAD 9. Minister Lamola also stated his desire to further develop bilateral relations, particularly in the areas of trade and investment, and to further develop cooperation in the international arena, including within the G20.
    
2. Following that, Minister IWAYA welcomed active defense exchanges, such as goodwill training with the Maritime Self-Defense Force, and expressed his desire to cooperate in maintaining and strengthening a free and open international order based on the rule of law. Minister IWAYA also welcomed the signing of the joint statement on decarbonization cooperation, referring to the importance of energy transition in a practical manner, and asked cooperation to enable stable business activities for Japanese companies. In response, Minister Lamola expressed his desire to further develop cooperation in the fields of defense and energy. In addition, Minister Lamola expressed his desire to work closely with Japan toward the success of the G20 Johannesburg Summit in November.
    
3. Both Ministers exchanged views and concurred in closely working together to respond to various regional and international challenges, including their policies toward North Korea including on the nuclear and missile issues and the abductions issue, as well as the United Nations Security Council reform.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.