1. Policy Speech by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the 183^rd Session of the Diet
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Prime Minster Abe gave a policy speech to the 183rd session of the Diet on Thursday February 28th, 2013. In the beginning, Prime Minister Abe stated that he and his cabinet aim to create “A Strong Japan”, and emphasized to work on the following six areas; “Acceleration of reconstruction”, “Economic revival”, “Making Japan the safest and secured nation in the world”, “Reconstruction of education and social welfare system”, “Diplomacy and security on the context of international community”, and “Risk management”.
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Regarding economic recovery, he expressed that he will make a very best effort to revive Japan’s economy with the three-arrowed economic booster plan; “Bold financial policy”, “Nimble fiscal policy”, and “growth strategy that promote investment in private sector”.
Also, he expressed his intention to strength fields of agriculture, medicine, tourism, culture and tradition, environmental technology, and science technology, and strategically flow our products from Japan to the world while recruiting top oversea corporations and human recourses into Japan. Therefore, in the future, this will contribute to make Japan the growth center of the globe once again.
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As for diplomacy and security, the fundamental diplomacy shall be “strategic diplomacy”, “diplomacy that respects universal values”, and “proactive diplomacy”. He also pointed out five principles of diplomacy to ASEAN that was announced in January 2013 when visiting ASEAN member states. He stated that the Japan-U.S. alliance will continue to be a cornerstone for Japanese diplomatic policy, and expressed his determination with an emphasis on solution of North Korea’s aggressive diplomacy as well as on the importance of bilateral relationship between Japan and relevant countries such as China, Republic of Korea, and Russia.
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2. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to the United States
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Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, visited the United States from 22 to 24 February 2013.  During his stay, Mr. Abe had a summit meeting with US President Barack Obama, who had just started his second administration, and also gave a policy speech titled “Japan is Back” at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
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In the summit meeting and the working lunch, Prime Minister Abe explained the basic line of Japan’s diplomacy to President Obama, and expressed his view that the reinforcement of the Japan-US alliance is the foundation of Japanese foreign policy. Prime Minster Abe also stated that he would promote the cooperation between two countries in a wider field, while wrestling with the reinforcement of the defense force and powerful revitalization of the Japan’s domestic economy.
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In addition, both leaders exchanged their views on the current regional issues in  Asia-Pacific,  Middle East and Africa. . In economic term, they discussed Japan’s possible participation in the TPP negotiations, the cooperation in area of development, diffusion of clean energy, the climate change, and the possibility of the introduction of Japan’s Super-conducting Maglev technology to the United States. President Obama mentioned that he was aware of the high support among Japanese citizen for the bold economic policy that Japanese Government was currently conducting.
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Through this visit, the summit meeting between Prime Minister Abe and President Obama succeeded to appeal their trust and bond, as well as the solid alliance between two nations. On the matter of the TPP, one of the main focuses of the meeting, both leaders confirmed that it is not required to make a prior commitment to unilaterally eliminate all tariffs upon joining the TPP negotiations. It is therefore considered to push the ongoing discussion whether to join TPP negotiations forward in Japan.
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3. Foreign policy speech by Minister for Foreign Affairs, Fumio Kishida, to the 183^rd Session of the Diet
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At the 183rd session of the Diet on 28 February, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Fumio Kishida outlined his thinking on the basic orientation of Japan’s foreign policy.
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In his speech, he introduced the three pillars of Japan’s foreign policy, which are strengthening the Japan-U.S. Alliance, deepening our cooperative relations with neighboring countries, and strengthening economic diplomacy as a means to promoting the revitalization of the Japanese economy.
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As to the first pillar, Minister Ksihida stated that the Japan-U.S. Alliance is the linchpin of Japan’s diplomacy and security and that it is indispensable to strength it.  On the second pillar, Mr. Kishida emphasized among others the determination to work toward the comprehensive resolution of the outstanding issues of concern including the abductions, nuclear and missile issues in relation with North Korea. As well as the promotion of a mutually Beneficial Relations Based on Common Strategic Interests from a broad perspective with China, Mr. Kishida also recognized the significance of the cooperative relationship with ROK, Russia, India, Mongolia, the ASEAN countries, Australia, the Pacific Rim.
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As for the third pillar of its foreign policy, Minister Kishida stated that Japan would seek to strengthen its economic diplomacy as a means to promote the revitalization of  domestic economy, since economic globalization proceeds at an accelerated pace.
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In addition to these points, Minister Kishida, while referring to the terrorist attack in Algeria, announced that he would put strength on measures for protecting the safety of Japanese nationals and companies active overseas.  He also expressed his determination to engage in resolving global issues such as the international discussion of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, the subject of climate change, peacekeeping and peace construction, human rights and humanitarian issues, and cooperation for human security and for establishing peace and stability in Africa through the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICADV) held in Yokohama in coming June.
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• Tiit Tammemägi, PhD, ICC Eesti peasekretär teemal ”Make Trade Simple!” – tõhus printsiip eksporditehingutes
• Rainer Osanik, LLM, BLRT Grupi õigusdirektor BLRT Grupi kogemusest.

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