Top: Prime Minister Kishida paid a courtesy call on President FrankWalter Steinmeier during his visit to Germany.
Left: Prime Minister Kishida receiving the salute of the guards of honorin Berlin.

Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio
at a joint press conference withGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

JAPAN-GERMANY
SUMMIT MEETING:

STRENGTHENING COOPERATION TO UPHOLD A
FREE AND FAIR GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER

Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio became the first Japanese prime minister in seven years to visit Germany for asummit. As the inseparability of Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security becomes more apparent, it has become
increasingly important for Japan and Germany to enhance their cooperation and partnership to maintain andstrengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law.
In July 2024, Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio
visited Berlin after attending the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in
Washington, D.C., for a summit meeting withGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz. During themeeting, they discussed ways to further deepen andstrengthen cooperation between the two countries.
Their first topic of discussion regarding the Japan-Germany relationship was cooperation in security
and defense. Prime Minister Kishida pointed outthat cooperation between the two countries inthose fields has been progressing in recent years, asGermany has been strengthening its involvementin the Indo-Pacific. The two leaders also confirmedthat their governments would prepare to hold thenext meeting of the “2+2” (both countries’ foreignand defense ministers) as soon as possible, in order tofurther strengthen cooperation in the field of security
and defense, utilizing the framework.
Prime Minister Kishida also stated that the firstround of the Japan-Germany Inter-GovernmentalConsultations, held in Tokyo in March 2023, was animportant step in opening a new page in the bilateralrelations. The two leaders confirmed that they would
coordinate to hold the next meeting in Germany as
early as next year, with the participation of relevant
ministers from both countries.
Japan and Germany share commonalities inindustrial structure and advanced technologies, andthe two leaders both recognized that cooperationin economic security, trade, and investment isimportant for maintaining and expanding a freeand fair international economic order. They
also confirmed the establishment of a bilateralframework for consultations in the field ofeconomic security. Prime Minister Kishidawelcomed joint private-sector progress instrategically important sectors such as hydrogen,clean energy, semiconductors and critical mineral
resources, as well as ongoing shared efforts topromote startup entry. The two leaders also
confirmed that they would strengthen cooperationin areas such as the development of Beyond
5G/6G, cyber, and the formation of internationalrules on AI, and shared their expectations forfurther intellectual exchanges and the recognitionof the importance of continued strong support for
Ukraine.

At the joint press conference following themeeting, Prime Minister Kishida said, “Theinternational community now faces serious
challenges, including Russia’s aggression against
Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, and
it is becoming increasingly clear that the security of
the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific are inseparable.
Against that backdrop, as we work to uphold andreinforce the free and open international order
based on the rule of law, cooperation andcollaboration between Japan and Germany are
becoming all the more important. In the summit
meeting, with this awareness of the issues in mind,
Olaf and I agreed we would further reinforce
bilateral collaboration and cooperation between
Japan and Germany.”
Regarding his visit to Germany, Prime Minister
Kishida contributed an article to the German
newspaper Handelsblatt. In addition to noting theimportance of bilateral efforts to position economic
security as part of the national security strategy,
he wrote: “Within our history of Japan-Germany
bilateral exchanges that surpasses 160 years, neverbefore has there been a time when the very foundationof the bonds linking our two nations, namely
freedom, fundamental human rights, and the ruleof law, has been as critically important as it is now.”
The summit provided an opportunity to reaffirm
the role that both countries must play and theimportance of working together to maintain andstrengthen a free and open international order basedon the rule of law.