Yesterday, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna begins his visit in Japan, where he will meet with Japanese Foreign Minister Yōko Kamikawa, Minister for Digital Transformation Taro Kono and representatives of the Japanese Parliament. The foreign minister is accompanied by an Estonian business delegation.

During his three-day high-level visit, Foreign Minister Tsahkna will meet with his Japanese colleague to reaffirm the strong relations between Estonia and Japan. “We highly value our cooperation with Japan, a G7 member and like-minded partner in Asia. In addition to growing security concerns, we are connected by shared economic interests and the wish to develop cooperation on digital affairs,” the foreign minister said ahead of the visit.

One of the focus topic at the meetings will be support for Ukraine. Tsahkna said that just like Estonia, Japan was a great supporter of Ukraine. “Japan has joined the sanctions imposed against Russia, provided political and economic support to Ukraine and is contributing to reconstruction. We can certainly do even more to help Ukraine,” Tsahkna said.

The foreign programme schedule includes meetings with Masayuki Tanimoto, the Managing Director of Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), and JBIC’s governor Tadashi Maeda. The Estonian foreign minister will also meet with Fumiya Kokubu, Chairman of the Board of the Marubeni Corporation, give a press conference to Japanese media and speak at the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) think tank.

He will meet with Takuya Hirai, Chairman of the Estonia-Japan Friendship Group in the Japanese Parliament, and Takaaki Katsumata, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives. The minister is also attending a reception hosted by the Estonian embassy in Tokyo.

The foreign minister is accompanied by two Estonian businesses, Marduk Technologies ja Auve Tech.