(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
I will now report on the Japan-Cambodia Defense Ministerial Meeting. Today, commencing at 11:00 a.m., I held the Japan-Cambodia Defense Ministerial Meeting with the Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense, General Tea Seiha for 60 minutes. At the outset of the meeting, I welcomed my first visit to Cambodia as the Minister of Defense except for a multilateral conference. After exchanging views on the regional situation, with regard to bilateral cooperation, we welcomed that the Japan-Cambodia relationship was upgraded to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” on the occasion of commemorating the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship last year. In addition, we concurred on further strengthening bilateral cooperation including in the security field, such as service-to-service exchanges and capacity building. Based on this meeting, we aim to further deepen defense cooperation bilaterally with Cambodia, as well as multilaterally, including between Japan and ASEAN.