Joint Press Release on the occasion of the meeting between the Foreign Minister of Japan, Hayashi Yoshimasa and the Foreign Minister of Denmark, Jeppe Kofod in Tokyo 24 November

Japan and Denmark enjoy long-standing friendly ties and share a partnership underpinned by mutual commitment to fundamental values such as democracy, freedom, the rule of law and free trade.

Foreign minister Hayashi and foreign minister Kofod stressed the importance of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. Minister Hayashi welcomed the recently adopted EU strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. Building on the commonalities between the respective approaches to the region, the ministers decided to enhance cooperation for a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive and based on the rule of law and democratic values, as well as unconstrained by coercion. The ministers reaffirmed their intention to consult and coordinate to help advance international peace and stability, based on the obligations and commitments under international law.

Both 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.

The two ministers welcomed the progress in the bilateral relations and cooperation between Japan and Denmark within the framework of the Strategic Partnership launched in 2014. For further concrete collaboration based on the Strategic Partnership, 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. Both Ministers decided to continue working together toward the finalization of the Program.