PM Transcripts

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PRIME MINISTER
STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING, MP
VISIT BY THE PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN
I am pleased to announce that the first foreign head of government to visit
Australia since the March election will be the Prime Minister of Japan,
Mr Kiichl Miyazawa.
Prime Minister Miyazawa will visit Canberra as guest of the Government fronm
29 April to 1 May. His visit to Australia will be the first by a Japanese
Prime Minister since that of Mr Noboru Takeshita In 1988.
The visit will reaffirm the vitality and importance of the Australia-Japan
partnership both bilaterally and in terms of our expanding consultation and
cooperation in regional and international affairs. My discussions In Canberra
with Prime Minister Miyazawa will build on the very productive dialogue we
established during my visit to Japan last September.
Australia and Japan share a range of important interests and perspectives as
we each address an increasingly fluid strategic and trading environment In the
Asia-Pacific region. With continuing delay In the conclusion of the
Uruguay Round of negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade, both countries have fundamental interests in maintaining an open and
non-discriminatory multilateral trading system and In promoting open
regionalism through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ( APEC) process.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Miyazawa had Important discussions with
President Clinton in Washington. In July the Japanese Government will host In
Tokyo the annual G7 summit.
My discussions with Prime Minister Mlyazawa will provide a valuable
opportunity to exchange views on these important developments and to Identify
areas where Australia and Japan should work towards shared objectives In the
Asia-Pacific region.
CANBERRA 23 April 1993