18 September 2013
Ottawa, Ontario
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced that Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, will be paying an official visit to Canada from September 23-24, 2013. This will be Prime Minister Abe’s first visit to Canada since taking office in December 2012.
“Canada and Japan enjoy a robust and dynamic partnership, underpinned by a common vision for shared prosperity and security, and strong people-to-people ties,” said Prime Minister Harper. “I look forward to meeting with Prime Minister Abe to discuss how to further strengthen bilateral commerce and promote strong, sustainable and balanced global economic growth.”
The visit affords the prime ministers an opportunity to discuss trade and investment matters. These include advancing the Canada-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement - a key trade priority for our Government - as well as working with Japan and other partners towards concluding the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. It is also an opportunity for the leaders to discuss the challenges facing the global economy and international security issues.
The last bilateral meeting between prime ministers’ Harper and Abe took place in June 2013 on the margins of the G-8 Leaders’ Summit in Northern Ireland. Most recently, they both participated in the G-20 Leaders’ Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, from September 5-6, 2013.
Japan is one of Canada’s most important and influential Asia-Pacific partners. The two countries work cooperatively in a range of multilateral forums, including the G-8, the G-20, APEC and the United Nations. Japan is also a valued regional and global security partner.
Canada is home to more than 109,000 people of Japanese origin who continue to make enormous contributions to the country in various areas of endeavour.
