21 April 2022

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had a productive meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo today.

“Japan is one of New Zealand’s closest and most important partners in the Indo-Pacific region. We have a strong trade relationship, common values and a shared commitment to an open, inclusive, stable and prosperous region. We are well aligned in our views and approaches to the challenges facing our region,” Jacinda Ardern said.

The Prime Ministers renewed the two countries’ commitment to the Japan-New Zealand Strategic Cooperative Partnership. They agreed to strengthen cooperation, with a focus on political links, defence and security, trade and economic growth, climate and sustainability, the Pacific and the broader Indo-Pacific region.

“The global strategic environment is volatile and we face unprecedented challenges. Japan and New Zealand will work together to support economic recovery from COVID-19, combat climate change, promote peace and stability in our region and uphold the global rules based order,” Jacinda Ardern said.

The Prime Ministers welcomed the decision to negotiate an information sharing agreement, to enable closer engagement on international security issues.

They also agreed to collaborate on sustainable economic growth, with a particular focus on food and beverage, technology and renewable energy, and to continue working together to promote free, open and rules-based trade through economic forums and frameworks such as APEC, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership – and now the new regional Indo-Pacific Economic Framework initiative.

“Our economic links are strong and we have long-standing investment partnerships. There is significant potential to grow our trade and to work together to transform our economies for a low-carbon future”, Jacinda Ardern said.

“Today I highlighted to Prime Minister Kishida the high-quality goods and services that New Zealand’s exporters offer Japan, particularly in food and beverage and technology. We also noted the close partnerships between our businesses in renewable energy and the scope to build on these”, Jacinda Ardern said.

To strengthen cooperative activities in science and technology between the two countries, Prime Minister Ardern announced a New Zealand government investment of up to $8 million into joint research on Advanced Technologies, including renewable energy.

The Prime Ministers’ Joint Statement can be found here.

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