Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Wednesday that he had a “frank and fruitful” meeting with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte during his visit to the Andean nation to mark the 150th anniversary of the launching of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
“I had a frank and fruitful exchange of opinions with President Boluarte and Foreign Minister (Ana Cecilia) Gervasi, respectively, dealing with bilateral issues and cooperation on different challenges confronting the international community,” Hayashi told reporters.
During the meeting, which began at 11:30 am at the Government Palace in Lima’s historic district, Japan’s top diplomat expressed his “appreciation” that “Peru is promoting a free and open economic policy.”
In addition, Hayashi reaffirmed Japan’s “complete readiness” to support Peru in its role as president of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) in 2024.
“Peru is also rich in mineral and energy resources, and so I expressed to them our excitement regarding Peru’s role as an important economic partner with an eye toward strengthening the supply chain on the global level,” he said.
The Japanese foreign minister also said that his country remains committed to “continue cooperating with Peru to propel its sustainable development” and to strengthen bilateral links in the economic sphere via public-private cooperative ventures.
He also said that “both countries agree … on cooperating closely to respond to current difficult international situations,” including the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“Japan presides over the G7 this year and wants to listen to a broad range of opinions from the international community to contribute to those G7 debates,” he said.
The Japanese minister said that on Wednesday afternoon, within the scope of his official visit to Peru, he will participate in making a donation of biomedical equipment to the National Maternal Perinatal Institute, in Lima’s historic downtown zone, by Japan’s International Cooperation Agency.
Later, he will attend the inauguration ceremony for the Lima-based Japan Foundation in the city’s San Isidro district.
“I hope that my visit to Peru will be one more contribution in deepening bilateral friendship and expanding the scope of our cooperation,” the foreign minister concluded.
Peru was the first Latin American nation to establish diplomatic relations with Japan in 1873, and currently is home to the second-largest ethnic Japanese population in South America after Brazil, with that community having made a significant cultural impact on the country and constituting approximately 0.1 percent of the Peruvian population.
The parents of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who governed from 1990-2000, were born in Japan. His daughter, Keiko Fujimori, served as Peru’s first lady from 1994-2000, represented the Lima metro district in congress from 2006-2011, and ran for president in 2011, 2016 and 2021 but was defeated each time in the runoff vote.
Source : La Prensa Latina
