Ambassador Kojima's Speech at National Federation of Australia-Japan Society Annual Conference
26 July 2008
Address by His Excellency Takaaki Kojima,
Ambassador of Japan to Australia at the
National Federation of Australia-Japan Societies
Annual Conference Dinner
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
[Introduction]
It is my pleasure to attend this evening’s Annual Dinner and I would like to thank Mr Adrian Ahern and the Australia-Japan Society for inviting me to address you on this occasion.
Since arriving in Coffs Harbour, my wife and I have been deeply touched by the warmth and genuineness of the welcome and hospitality we have received.
This is actually my first visit to Coffs Harbour. It is my pleasure to be here escaping from a cruel Canberra winter.
I have already had the pleasure of meeting many of you since taking up my posting in Canberra last year. This morning I was able to extend a greeting to all of you, but I would like to take this opportunity to again express my utmost appreciation for your support in fostering closer links between Japan and Australia.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This evening, I would like to provide a brief overview of Japan- Australia relations. In doing so, I will touch on the past, present and future of this partnership.
[History of the Relationship; (1) Economic Linkages]
In the first instance, I would like to look at our economic links which form an important part of the history of the relationship. The cornerstone for the blossoming of economic ties was the 1957 Japan-Australia Commerce Agreement, which laid the foundation of our five-decade long expansion of bilateral trade and investment. As I mentioned previously, Japan has been, and still is, Australia’s largest export market. Australia’s trade surplus with Japan amounts to 15 billion US dollars.
Japan values Australia as a reliable and stable supplier of energy, mineral resources and food stuffs. If we look at imports of coal, natural gas and crude oil expressed in oil equivalent tonnes, Australia is Japan’s largest exporter of energy. Australia’s share is 20%, followed by Saudi Arabia with 17% and the United Arab Emirates with 15%. For uranium, used for the production of nuclear power, Australia supplies about 36% of our requirements. Australia also provides 52% of Japan’s requirements of iron ore.
With regard to trade in food stuffs, Japan imports 22% of its wheat, 40% of its sugar, 89% of its beef and 37% of its natural cheese from Australia.
However, our economic relationship is most definitely not limited to bilateral trade. As Minister Ferguson recently observed; “Japan had been with us from the beginning in developing the Australian resource sector”. Indeed, Japanese companies have closely collaborated with the Australian side from exploration to exploitation as well as in the resources trade and with financial and technical co-operation.
I believe there is considerable scope for further promoting our economic ties, particularly in the services and financial sectors as well as the biotechnology sector. Australia is one of the most advanced markets and Japanese financial institutions are now firmly back on track after having implemented much needed reforms following the collapse of the bubble economy. On top of that, Japanese households hold huge financial assets amounting to about 15 trillion dollars.
[History of the Relationship; (2) Personal Ties]
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In addition to these trade ties, over the years, our relationship has developed into a comprehensive partnership encompassing political, social and cultural aspects. Close personal ties are another “pillar” which demonstrates, along with economic ties, the broadening of connections between Japan and Australia.
For instance, there are now approximately 64,000 Japanese residents in Australia which is the fifth largest Japanese community outside Japan, after the USA, China, Brazil and the UK.
On education, about 370,000 Australians were studying Japanese in 2006, the third highest number in the world. To date, 6,300 Australian instructors have been accepted to work in Japan under the JET Program, which makes a valuable contribution to English language training in Japan. This is the fourth highest number, following the USA, UK and Canada.
Tourism is another area that attests to the utility of our bilateral ties as 570,000 Japanese visited Australia in 2007. Japan was the third largest destination for Australian travelers after New Zealand and the UK. Among other things, Hokkaido’s ski resorts are now attracting more Australian tourists to Japan. The total number of Australian tourists visiting Japan was 220,000, the sixth highest overall. This is surely one of the positive developments to have emerged from the recent strengthening of the Aussie dollar.
As I mentioned, sister city relationships are also thriving. At present there are over one hundred sister city relationships between Japan and Australia, more than 20% of the 474 sister city relationships enjoyed by Australia all over the world. In fact, Coffs Harbour, where this important Annual Conference is being held, formed its own sister city relationship with the city of Sasebo, also a beautiful harbour town, where tourists from around the world are attracted, in 1988.
[Recent Developments; Security Cooperation]
On top of these long-standing relations in the field of economics and grass-roots exchange, we have made progress in other areas as well. In recent years, Japan-Australia relations have been promoted in the field of national security.
Since the 1990s, when Japan started to proactively participate in international peacekeeping activities under the UN, Japan-Australia cooperation in the field of national security has shown a remarkable deepening. Cambodia, East Timor, post-Tsunami restoration efforts and the fight against terrorism are good examples of our collaboration. Our cooperation in Iraq in 2005-2006 clearly symbolizes our recent security cooperation.
In March last year, based on mutual confidence resulting from these operations, the then leaders of our countries signed a Joint Statement on Security Cooperation to further enhance security cooperation. In June last year, our Foreign and Defence Ministers held the Japan-Australia Joint Foreign and Defence Ministerial Consultations, the so-called “2 + 2” meeting in Tokyo. The Prime Ministers of both countries agreed on a concrete Action Plan for security cooperation in September last year.
It is fair to say that there are a couple of things that have enabled us to achieve this natural development of our strategic partnership. Firstly, both countries share the same basic values, including democracy, fundamental human rights, the rule of law and market economy. Secondly, both countries share strategic interests, such as peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific Region, including a desire for the resolution of the North Korean nuclear problem. More broadly, our countries support global efforts against terrorism and reform of the United Nations. Japan and Australia, as major allies of the United States, have a joint interest in keeping the US in the Asia-Pacific Region as the anchor for regional peace and stability. Naturally, our three countries have developed cooperation in a trilateral context, with the so-called Trilateral Strategic Dialogue (TSD), which is a critical mechanism for addressing and co-ordinating policies on strategic issues in the region.
Economic linkages are also developing further. We decided in December 2006 to commence negotiations on a Japan-Australia EPA, and so far we have had five rounds of negotiations. The last round was held in Canberra three months ago where both sides shared the view that the talks were fruitful and, as with past rounds, substantial progress was made. Both countries concluded in 2007 a Social Security Agreement which will resolve such problems as double social security contributions. In January 2008, a new Tax Treaty was signed which will encourage investment by further removing the possibility of double taxation.
[Future of the Relationship]
Bearing in mind all these developments over the years, then you may ask, what are the future prospects of our relationship? In considering this question, it should be noted that there has been no change to the fundamentals of our comprehensive, strategic relationship, including economic and national security.
It was significant that Prime Minister Rudd’s first visit to Japan after assuming office was successful and that both Leaders reached agreement on continuing to strengthen our ‘comprehensive and strategic security and economic partnership’ based on common strategic goals and fundamental values.
On national security, both Prime Ministers agreed to promote Japan-Australia cooperation and to have another round of the Japan-Australia Joint Foreign and Defence Ministerial Consultations. It was decided that the next round of the “2+2” meeting would be held in Canberra to follow-up on the meeting that was held last year.
In addition, both Prime Ministers agreed on the importance of the Japan-USA-Australia Trilateral Strategic Dialogue. A Trilateral Strategic Dialogue at the Foreign Minister level was held in Kyoto last month.
Prime Minister Fukuda has announced that, on Prime Minister Rudd’s proposal for “An International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament”, Japan will participate, considering it a joint Australia-Japan initiative. Prime Minister Fukuda has requested former Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi to serve as Japan’s joint Chair.
With regard to EPA negotiations, both Prime Ministers agreed in June that it is important for us to work hard to conclude an agreement which will contribute to the deepening of our economic relationship, including the stable supply of resources and energy. At the same time, it is important to take into consideration the sensitivities of both countries. While in Japan in June, Prime Minster Rudd proposed to enhance cooperation in the services sector, especially in financial services, as the fourth pillar of the Japan-Australia economic relationship; building on the existing three pillars of mineral resources, manufactured goods and agricultural products. The next round of the EPA negotiation will take place in Tokyo next week.
In addition to EPA negotiations, the 46th Meeting of the Japan-Australia Joint Economic Committee will be held in Perth from 10-12 October of this year. It should be viewed as an opportunity to reconfirm the importance of our economic relationship.
Turning now to the important issue of climate change, all of us here are aware that Prime Minister Rudd participated in the Outreach Meeting, which formed one part of the recently-concluded Hokkaido Toyako G8 Summit. It is truly a welcome development that, at the Summit, many world leaders were able to share the vision of halving world greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 thereby sending a message to the world.
As always, each country has its own particular and different approach to this issue. Nevertheless, I am confident that both Australia and Japan will continue to work closely on this issue with the aim of putting together an effective framework for the future.
Let me now touch upon an issue on which our countries hold different views – that is, whaling.While recently in Japan holding discussions with the Japanese side, Prime Minister Rudd stated that whaling is only one small part of our overall extremely good bilateral relations – and that we should continue to discuss this issue to hopefully reach a diplomatic resolution.
In response, Prime Minister Fukuda said that Japan will continue to debate the issue from a scientific standpoint, including at the Working Group which the recently-concluded Chile annual meeting of the IWC agreed to establish. For their part, Japan and Australia agreed to continue to debate the issue of whaling at both bilateral and multilateral fora.
[Conclusion]
Overall, Japan and Australia enjoy an excellent relationship.
However, we should never take this relationship for granted. The strong relations our two countries enjoy today have been brought about by the efforts of many dedicated people both in Japan and Australia who have nurtured and promoted our ties over a great many years. In this regard, please let me assure you that as Ambassador of Japan to Australia, I am totally committed to further strengthening our relationship.
Finally, I wish to thank you again for inviting us this evening. I am grateful for this valuable opportunity to meet you; to discuss Japan-Australia relations; and to listen to your ideas and suggestions for further developing our partnership in the coming years. I am confident that with your on-going dedication, the Australia Japan Societies will continue to make a positive and valuable contribution to enriching and broadening the relationship of our countries.
Thank you.
【END】