Japanese Foreign Minister visits Trinidad and Tobago

JAPANESE Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and a delegation from Japan visited TT on Monday, meeting with Energy and Energy Industries Minister Stuart Young, Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Amery Browne, and holding a luncheon with Japanese residents in TT. This is the first time a Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister has visited TT.

A release from the Energy and Energy Industries Ministry said discussions surrounded the relationship between Japan and TT regarding further investments in TT’s energy sector. Young welcomed continuous trade relations with Japan and expressed the Government’s willingness to have discussions with Japan inclusive of other sectors outside of energy such as trade, education and natural disaster management.

Young and Hayashi agreed on the importance of encouraging young persons in the areas of innovation and new technologies.

A release from the Japanese Embassy said Hayashi touched upon the activities of Japanese companies in TT, particularly in the energy sector, and requested continued cooperation in creating an appropriate business environment, which Young agreed to. The two ministers exchanged views, including on the importance of a stable energy supply, while also taking into account the situation in Ukraine.

At the Foreign and Caricom Affairs Ministry, Hayashi and Browne held a flag raising ceremony and had a working lunch. According to the ministry, they discussed the anticipated celebration of the 60th anniversary in 2024 of the establishment of diplomatic relations between TT and Japan. They agreed to further expand and strengthen the bilateral relationship on that occasion through a joint task force established between the Japanese Embassy in Port of Spain and the Foreign and Caricom Affairs Ministry in TT.

“The joint task force will engage in extensive discussions to expand and deepen the exchanges and bonds of friendship between the two countries in a wide range of areas, including education, culture, academic exchange, economic cooperation, tourism promotion and sports exchange, as well as to explore concrete measures to achieve the goal of strengthening relations, through a Japan-Caricom Friendship Year 2024, including culture and people-to-people exchanges.”

Hayashi, according to a release from the Japanese Embassy, said Japan has been providing finely-tuned assistance to Caricom Member States, including TT, as part of its cooperation to overcome the vulnerability particular to small island states.

He said Japan is providing grant assistance to TT as part of the environmental and climate change initiatives in order to remove Sargassum seaweed, which adversely affects important industries of the country, the tourism and fishery, and will continue to provide necessary assistance in the areas of environment, climate change, and disaster risk reduction.

Hayashi said regarding food security, Japan is working at the G7 from the perspective of establishing resilient supply chains, and that Japan values the role of TT in exporting fertilizer materials. Browne welcomed the investment by Japanese companies, expressed his hope to strengthen the bilateral economic relations and to contribute to the international community, including in the area of food security.

Hayashi explained Japan's efforts to realize a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) and called for cooperation to maintain and strengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law. The two ministers exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine and the situation in East Asia, including the response to North Korea in the face of its nuclear and missile activities. They discussed responses to other issues of the international community, such as climate change, economic security issues including economic coercion, strengthening the function of the United Nations as a whole, including UN Security Council reform, and confirmed that they would continue to work together.

On Sunday, Hayashi visited the Caribbean Gas and Chemical Company Limited (CGCL) methanol plant which is invested in by a Japanese company. He received an overview briefing of the company's operations and also exchanged views with company members on future cooperation between Japan and TT in the energy sector as well as the business environment for Japanese companies.

He then held a luncheon with Japanese residents who are active in TT in various areas, including energy, Japanese language education and tourism. He paid tribute to the activities of each participant in building bridges between Japan and TT in various fields, and called for the continued development of ties between the two countries in a wide range of areas.

Also on Sunday, the Japanese government conferred the 2023 Spring Conferment of Decorations, “The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette” on former director, Centre for Language Learning, Faculty of Humanities and Education, The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine, Prof Beverly-Anne Carter, in recognition of her exceptional contribution to the promotion of academic exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and TT.