“It is really gratifying that discussions
are currently underway and the Japanese Government is showing commitment to
open a Japanese Embassy in Malta in the near future.” This was stated by
Minister for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade Ian Borg during an official
visit to the capital city of Japan, Tokyo.
During a meeting with the Parliamentary
Friendship Group between Japan and Malta, Minister Borg said that this is an
important step forward for our country’s bilateral relations with an important
country as Japan. It is essential that we continue to strengthen these
relations from which both peoples can enjoy.
During this official visit to Japan,
Minister Ian Borg had a meeting with the Nippon Foundation. During a discussion
with Chairman Yōhei Sasakawa, it was stated that Malta has always played a
positive role on multilateral fora in terms of climate diplomacy. Dr Borg also
explained the role that Malta will have within the United Nations Security
Council, especially during the Presidency in February 2023. He reiterated that
Malta will be seeing that particular attention is paid to the impact of climate
change on small island developing states (SIDS). In recent years, this foundation
has contributed towards 66 scholarships for students from all over the world to
come to our country and study at the National Maritime Law Institute.
Minister Borg also had a meeting with the
Japan Trade Confederation. The discussions focused mostly on the export of
Maltese tuna to this market. He stated that, just as this sector is a success,
there is a need to work harder so that this success is mirrored also in other
sectors and products. “Malta has much more to offer namely in the service
industry, pharmaceuticals, logistics, maritime and aviation, among others. We
want to see that the commercial relationship between the two countries
continues to grow,” reiterated Minister Borg.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs also
visited the Tourism Expo, where among others Malta has its stand to continue
promoting more tourism to our country. In a meeting with the Chairman of the
Japanese Association for Travel Agencies Hiroyuki Takahashi, the collaboration
and existing and potential opportunities to strengthen tourism between the two
countries were discussed. Before the pandemic, Malta hosted around 25,000
tourists and 4,000 Japanese English-learning students a year.
During his visit, the minister had the
opportunity to also visit the Tokyo fish market and experience a tuna auction.
He spoke to a number of Maltese tuna importers about the success that this
Maltese product has in Japan.