Speech by His Excellency Ambassador Toshio Sano

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

His Majesty the Emperor Akihito of Japan will be 79 years old on the 23rd of coming December. I wish His Majesty good health and for the further prosperity of the imperial family members.

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As mature democracies, Japan and Denmark share common values such as the freedom of speech, the rule of law and the respect for human rights. Together we have a long tradition for advocating a market-based economy and free trade. And also as peace loving-countries, both of our nations have made our best efforts to the social and economic development of the developing countries, as well as to secure friendly relations with countries all around the world since the end of World War II. However, as we are facing common challenges and problems we need to further combine our efforts to find solutions.

(1) Firstly both of our countries are faced with the aging of society. Highly specialized robotic technology for welfare from Japan is gradually being introduced in Denmark, and Danish municipalities are willing to test and apply these technologies to tackle this problem.

(2) Green Technology is another promising area of collaboration, especially after the nuclear accident in Fukushima. We are very much inspired by the environmentally friendly lifestyle of Danes. Recently, both Danish Foreign minister, and Climate and Energy minister visited the devastated regions in Japan with dozens of business delegations. The governor and mayors of these regions were impressed by the Danish way of solution of their problems. I believe Danish industries and businesses can collaborate for reconstruction of the regions by, for example, participating in “smart city” or “future city” projects in Japan.

(3) The third area of possible cooperation is life-science innovation. Several Japanese and Danish companies have already achieved marvelous progress in R&D field this year, but the future appears even brighter, especially due to the so-called iPS cells technology which was developed by Japanese scientist Dr. Yamanaka, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this year.

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At the same time, the Japanese enthusiasm for Denmark has been increasing this year. Former Prime Minister Kan’s visit to Denmark early this year kicked off a series of visits and collaborations with Danish counterparts, and a sound foundation was created for broadly deepening their business ties. Japan-Denmark relations have been enhanced in a multilayered way involving not only the governments but also local municipalities and private businesses.

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Our cooperation runs deep also with regards to global issues.

(1) Firstly, this year, Denmark launched the creative “3C” initiative to ensure the security of Afghanistan, while Japan hosted the Tokyo Conference on the Development and Reconstruction of Afghanistan in July. Since the security and development should go hand in hand these initiatives were very timely and important for improving the situation in Afghanistan in the next decade.

(2) Secondly, as maritime nations, we have strong common interests in dealing with the piracy off the coast of Somalia, and actually greatly contributed to mitigating the problems through information sharing and personnel training.

(3)Thirdly, there is great potential for cooperation in the Arctic region with regards to tackling challenges resulting from global warming. In short, we highly value the Danish active contribution to the international society, and Japan will redouble its efforts to further strengthen the cooperation with Denmark as a reliable partner to Japan.

Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you very much for your attention, and let me propose a toast for the health and prosperity of His Majesty and you all. Thank you and please enjoy the rest of the afternoon.