The Yomiuri Symposium has since its inception in 1972 established a remarkable record as a forum attracting many distinguished speakers. I am honoured by your kind invitation.
Japan is a valued member of the family of democratic nations.
That is why I have been very keen on developing close contacts with Japan, continuing the tradition we have established since 1990, when NATO and Japan together organised the first of our major conferences on global security. Since then, our biennial NATO-Japan Security Conference has provided particularly useful opportunities for enhancing our informal ties and expanding the range and depth of our discussions on global and regional security issues. I believe we can, and should, do more in fostering mutual dialogue on a regular basis, and I shall return to this later in my remarks. Japan and the Allies share many interests, and this is growing steadily as our economies become ever-more interdependent. Our prosperity becomes ever-more dependent on world investment and trade patterns.