PM meeting with Prime Minister Abe
Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed Prime Minister Abe of Japan to Downing Street this afternoon on his first official visit to London.
Following the meeting, a Downing Street spokesperson said:
Both leaders welcomed the excellent trade and investment relationship between the UK and Japan and set out their intention to build on that. The Prime Minister cited the significant opportunity for British business to help deliver Tokyo 2020 and welcomed the progress made on investment into a new nuclear power station at Moorside. Both Prime Ministers also reconfirmed their commitment to agreeing an EU-Japan free trade agreement and said they wanted to see an agreement in principle by 2015.
They also discussed how both countries could build on existing defence and security cooperation to support Japan’s enhanced role in global security and peacekeeping, and agreed that foreign and defence ministers would meet to take that work forward. They talked about the security in the East Asia region, including relations with the Republic of Korea and China, as well as the situation in North Korea. They agreed on the need for a rules-based approach to security in the region.
The Prime Minister welcomed Japan’s commitment to accelerate progress on both joining the Open Government Partnership, and committing to automatic exchange of tax information and central registries of beneficial ownership.
Both leaders called for Russia to respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and work to de-escalate the situation. They discussed the need for energy diversification ahead of the G7 Energy Ministers meeting next week.
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