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President Manny Mori meets Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara

Palikir, Pohnpei (FSM Information Services): November 4, 2010 - On the morning of November 2, President Mori had a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Naoto Kan, at the official residence of the Prime Minister in Tokyo. The President was accompanied by Ambassador Fritz of the FSM Embassy in Japan, Secretary Lorin Robert of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and Secretary Marion Henry of the Department of Resources and Development.

During the meeting, Mori expressed his sincere appreciation to Kan for the opportunity to meet with him. He assured Kan that the friendly relationship between FSM and Japan is strong and unshakeable.

"The FSM takes great pride in our historical connections; and today, the Japanese economic cooperation and assistance in the FSM have greatly contributed to our nation-building efforts," said Mori.

President Mori congratulated Prime Minister Kan and the government of Japan for the success of the COP10 meeting in Nagoya and also thanked the Prime Minister for the financial commitments made by Japan to assist the developing countries in achieving biodiversity and conservation goals. Effectively, the government of Japan, last week, committed USD $2 billion over the next three years in development aid for that purpose.

In turn, Prime Minister Kan welcomed President Mori and expressed his congratulations to the President regarding FSM's independence day, which was celebrated on November 3, at the Royal Park Hotel. Kan concurred with Mori that the bilateral relationship between Japan and FSM was stable and strong and affirmed that his government will continue to work with FSM on bilateral and regional issues. Specifically, Kan highlighted that Japan will continue to work with the region through the ongoing Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM) to provide assistance in the areas of climate change, environmental issues, and human security, which includes health and education.

Kan thanked Mori for the FSM's support regarding Japan's bid to the United Nations Security Council, as well as other U.N. candidatures made by Japan.

The Prime Minister also emphasized that he wanted President Mori to feel welcome in the city of Kochi, the hometown of Mori's Japanese great grandfather. In a gesture of true friendship, Prime Minister Kan gave President Mori the gift of a small Japanese comic book relating the story of the President Mori's Japanese great grandfather, Koben Mori. Kan explained that he had read this comic book as a child.

Later that same afternoon, President Mori, with his same delegation, met with Mr. Seiji Maehara, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Maehara re-iterated Japan's determination to further invigorate the process of PALM and expressed Japan's continued commitment to assisting the efforts of FSM in its endeavor toward self-sustained socio-economic development.

Mori thanked Maehara for Japan's support in the FSM and the Pacific region as a whole and expressed his hope that Japan will continue to stimulate FSM's economy via tourism and other forms of exchanges.