The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that she will welcome Yoko Kamikawa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, to Montréal, Québec, from January 12 to 13, 2024.

“Canada and Japan share a close friendship rooted in deep people-to-people ties, shared values and long-standing cooperation. I look forward to welcoming Foreign Minister Kamikawa to Canada and identifying opportunities to deepen our relationship and advance common priorities.”

- Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs

• Canada and Japan enjoy rich cultural ties and people to-people linkages. In 2021, there were more than 129,425 people of Japanese origin residing in Canada.

• In October 2022, Foreign Minister Joly and then Foreign Affairs Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi released an action plan with concrete commitments on six shared priorities to contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific region: the rule of law; peacekeeping operations, peacebuilding, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief; health security and responding to COVID-19; energy security; free trade promotion and trade agreement implementation; and the environment and climate change.

• The Indo-Pacific region encompasses 40 economies, over four billion people and $47.19 trillion worth of economic activity. It is the world’s fastest-growing region and represents significant opportunities for growing Canada's economy, as well as providing opportunities for Canadian workers and businesses for decades to come.

Associated links

• Canada-Japan relations
• Canada-Japan Action Plan for contributing to a free and open Indo-Pacific region
• Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy

Isabella Orozco-Madison
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Isabella.Orozco-Madison@international.gc.ca

Media Relations Office
Global Affairs Canada
media@international.gc.ca

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