Meeting of the Foreign Minister with the Foreign Minister of Japan on April 23, 2019

Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Foreign Minister of Pakistan met Mr. Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan today. The one on one meeting was followed by delegation level talks and a joint press briefing.

The two sides reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and identified areas for further cooperation in political, economic, trade, investment, education and cultural fields. Both sides while noting the renewed vigour and momentum in high-level exchanges, reaffirmed their commitments to take the bilateral relationship to a higher level. The importance of summit- level interactions in providing vision and future direction to the relations was also highlighted.

The Foreign Minister appreciated Japan’s role as Pakistan’s key development partner over the years and highlighted the areas of investment, human resource development, information technology, tourism and agriculture to further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation. The Foreign Minister also stressed that Pakistan with its geographical location at the cusp of the Middle East and Central Asia had the potential to become a manufacturing hub for Japanese companies.

While discussing the regional issues, the Foreign Minister briefed Minister Kono on Pakistan’s constructive role in Afghanistan aimed at peace and reconciliation, outreach efforts by the Government of Pakistan with its eastern neighbor and deteriorating situation of human rights in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.

Minister Kono appreciated Pakistan’s efforts for peace and stability in the region. He termed the recent signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation on the Technical Internship Training Programme (TITP) as an important step towards entry of young Pakistani skilled workers to the vast and vibrant market of Japan.

Both sides agreed that mutually beneficial areas of cooperation such as human resource development, IT, tourism, automobile, small and medium enterprises and agriculture required to be explored further.

During the visit, notes for the following two grant aid projects were signed:-

The Project for the Extension of Intensive Care Maternal and Child Health Care Centre and Children’s Hospital in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS),Islamabad with total amount of Pak. Rs. 4.85 billion.
Economic Social Development Programme, The Project for Strengthening Inspection Capability of Inland Transportation Cargo with total amount of Rs. 2.55 billion.

From Pakistani side the notes were signed and exchanged by Mr. Imtiaz Ahmad, Special Secretary (Asia Pacific) while Japanese side was represented by Mr. Kuninori Matsuda, Ambassador of Japan in Pakistan.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is on a three-day official visit to Japan at the invitation of the Foreign Minister of Japan Mr. Taro Kono. The visit has provided an opportunity to further build on the momentum of recent high level visits between the two countries.

Islamabad
23 April 2019

179/2019