Japan to host G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Karuizawa next year
Japan said Tuesday it will host a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized countries next year in the resort town of Karuizawa in the central prefecture of Nagano.
The Cabinet also endorsed a plan to hold a meeting of the finance ministers and central bank governors of the group in Niigata, a coastal city facing the Sea of Japan northwest of Tokyo, top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told a press conference.
A series of G7 ministerial meetings will be held in Japan in 2023 ahead of the group’s summit as the country takes over the rotating presidency of the G7 from Germany. The group also includes Britain, Canada, France, Italy and the United States.
Matsuno, chief Cabinet secretary, said Karuizawa and Niigata were selected after the government looked into various factors such as accommodation and security, as well the wishes of related ministries and local governments.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has already said Hiroshima, one of the two Japanese cities devastated by atomic bombs in the closing days of World War II, will be the venue for the summit in May next year. Elected from a constituency in the western city, he is expected to deliver a message toward a nuclear-free world.
The government has yet to say when the foreign and finance ministers’ meetings will take place, but they are likely to be held in April and May, respectively, according to officials.
There will be 12 other meetings for G7 ministers in charge of such fields as trade, environment and agriculture, Matsuno said, adding the venues for them will be announced in September.
The government had initially considered holding the foreign ministers’ meeting in Nara, but the idea was scrapped due to security reasons after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot to death during an election campaign speech in the western city in early July, according to sources with knowledge of the planning.
The top spokesman stressed that Japan will make every possible effort to ensure security around facilities for the G7 meetings.
Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told a separate press conference that Karuizawa, known for its pristine natural environment, is experienced in hosting large-scale conferences and a “suitable place to have candid discussions on urgent issues of the international community.”
The popular summer retreat town is easy to access from Tokyo, which is just over an hour away by bullet train. It hosted a meeting of environment and energy ministers from the Group of 20 major economies in 2019 and the G7 transport ministers’ gathering in 2016.
Niigata also held the G20 agriculture ministers’ meeting in 2019 and that of the G7 in 2016.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES