Airport, Economics, Good for Business, Latvia, Legislation, Transport

Foreign Minister Rinkevics expressed satisfaction with excellent bilateral relations and an active political dialogue between Latvia and Japan, evidenced by the official visit to Latvia by the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this January and the visit to Japan by the Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis last December. Rinkevics invited the Foreign Minister of Japan to make a visit to Latvia.

During the meeting, Rinkevics noted that Japan is one of Latvia’s major economic partners in the Far East, and he voiced hope that an economic partnership agreement between the European Union and Japan, negotiations on which were finalized in January 2017, would also facilitate the Latvian-Japanese economic cooperation.

Referring to the state of affairs with the North Korean nuclear programme, the Foreign Minister expressed support for increasing a diplomatic and economic pressure and for strong compliance with sanction imposed on North Korea.

Both the Ministers were unanimous about the importance of launching of direct air traffic between Latvia and Japan. To this end, the parties concurred to move ahead with talks on a relevant agreement between the countries.

At the meeting, the Foreign Ministers also discussed cooperation in international organisations, security policy, and specific ways of intensifying political dialogue between the Baltic States and Japan.