Letter from Ambassador in November - Visit to Japan by H.E. Mr. Jeppe Kofod, Foreign Minister of Denmark
Dear Friends,
I hope that this letter finds you well as it is getting colder and colder day by day.
In the early morning on an autumn day, H.E. Mr. Jeppe Kofod, Foreign Minister of Denmark arrived in Japan from Indonesia. H.E. Mr. HAYASHI Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, received him for the bilateral meeting followed by luncheon. They discussed in person bilateral relations, regional and international situations. I heard that the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere with both foreign ministers who studied at Harvard University.
In the course of the discussion, both foreign ministers acknowledged that the climate crisis is an existential threat to the world and both Japan and Denmark will play an active role to combat this crisis. They also stressed the importance of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, building on the commonalities between the respective approaches to the region, decided to enhance cooperation for a free and open Indo-Pacific. As I wrote in my letter of July this year, the Free and Open Indo-Pacific is a multilateral cooperation which is inclusive, in other words open to new comers, and based on rule of law and democratic values, as well as unconstrained by coercion.
For Foreign Minister Kofod, it was the first visit to Japan since 2013 when he was a member of the European Parliament. During the latest stay in Japan for one night two days, following the foreign ministers’ meeting, Mr. Kofod was engaged in a broad range of exchanges of views in person with Defense Minister KISHI, Digital Minister MAKISHIMA, Deputy Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry ISHII, the members of Japan Denmark, Greenland and Faroe Islands Parliamentary Friendship League, the families of the abducted Japanese nationals by North Korea, prominent figures from business, academic and NGO circles . Danish diplomats who accompanied Foreign Minister Kofod said to me that Foreign Minister Kofod and the Denmark were very much satisfied with a fruitful visit and that we should follow up together.
After the bilateral meeting and the luncheon between the foreign ministers, Joint Press Release was issued（https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/100263329.pdf）. The document states that based on the framework of Strategic Partnership launched by Prime Ministers of both countries, a Joint Strategic Work Program is under preparation covering a broad range of sectors such as energy, digitalization, environment, agriculture, maritime cooperation, health and culture, as well as political and economic cooperation. My colleagues of the Embassy of Japan from Copenhagen and I are looking forward to building upon, step by step, the friendly and cordial relations between Japan and Denmark together with friends and colleagues in Denmark, Ambassador Peter Taksøe-Jensen and his team in Tokyo and the readers of this article.
The year 2021 will stay with us for another month only. I wish you well during the busiest month and look forward to seeing you on this page or somewhere in Denmark.
| Yours sincerely, |
| MIYAGAWA Manabu |
| Embassy of Japan in the Kingdom of Denmark |
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