Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida intends to expand trilateral cooperation among South Korea, Japan, and China to other countries and regions. This initiative is part of the trilateral summit, which is being held for the first time in four and a half years.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on the 24th, Kishida spoke at the Nikkei Forum held in Tokyo, Japan, on the topic of The Future of Asia. He expressed his hope that the trilateral summit would be an opportunity to build cooperation for the peace and prosperity of the Asia region, which is facing many challenges.
Kishida emphasized, “In the face of many new challenges, we will restart the Korea-Japan-China process and strengthen practical cooperation, sharing a great responsibility for peace and prosperity in the region. He also stated, “We will push forward efforts to expand the achievements and benefits of trilateral cooperation to other countries and regions.”
Kishida stressed, “Efforts toward digitalization are important in promoting further economic growth in the Asia region,” and “Japan will aim to train 100,000 professionals in related fields like artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors over the next five years in cooperation with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).”
Along with Kishida, President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will hold a trilateral summit in Seoul on the 26th and 27th of this month.
This will be the first trilateral summit in four years and five months since it was held in Chengdu, China, in December 2019. Yoon will also have a summit with China and Japan separately.
The three leaders plan to issue a joint declaration on six key areas of cooperation:
- People-to-people exchange
- Promotion of sustainable development through cooperation in responding to climate change
- Economic and trade cooperation
- Cooperation in health and aging
- Cooperation in digital transformation in science and technology
- Disaster and safety cooperation
