I am honored to have the opportunity to address you today at the 5th IISS Manama dialogue as the head of the Japanese delegation. In a world which is undergoing fast globalization , we face not only the conventional kinds of conflict among countries, but also various new kinds of threat: international terrorism, proliferation of mass destruction weapons, piracy, trans-national organised crime such as drugs and money laundering and unpredictable large-scale natural disasters. In addressing these increasingly diversified and complicated threats, international coordination is absolutely indispensable. This was the consensus among the countries who participated in the two major meetings Japan hosted this year, the Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD) IV meeting in Yokohama and the G8 Summit. What we need now is for each country and region to recognise the various threats and to work in a concerted manner to mitigate risks which might lead to the instability of the whole region.
The Middle East has been the main supplier of energy resources to the world. At the same time, the region has experienced turmoil and a number of conflicts with implications for the peace and stability of the world. Looking back on the past 20 years we can easily recall several conflicts. The international community has been seeking the stability of the region through the prevention of conflict, peace building and reconstruction of the affected region, extending support to sustain democratically elected governments. In this context we really welcome the positive attitude of the Kingdom of Bahrain in taking initiatives to set up a regional organisation in which all countries in the Middle East and North Africa are members without exception.
For the sake of seeking permanent solution to these conflicts, people need to be given hope for the future through economic development and human resources development to understand what kind of rules the reconciliation of parties will bring about. This is really essential to mitigate the risk of instability and maintain stability. In its efforts to play an active role for international peace under the constraints of its constitution, Japan has accumulated its experiences in the Middle East region. Immediately after the end of the Gulf War, Japan dispatched minesweeper vessels from the Maritime Self Defence Force (SDF). Following this, Japan enacted the PKO law and sent the Self Defence Force to the Golan Heights from 1996. At present, Maritime Self Defence Force vessels are in the Indian Ocean carrying on with its duty in the global fight against terrorism by refuelling the coalition vessels, as Secretary Gates noted. I am wearing this white band here to pray for the safety of the SDF guys which I started as a Minister.
On Friday, just before I left Japan, our parliament just passed the bill to continue the refuelling support activities in the Indian Ocean using the two thirds supermajority to overcome the rejection by the Upper House, which is controlled by the opposition party. In Iraq, Japan’s Ground Self Defence Force implemented humanitarian reconstruction assistance in Samawa. After the Ground Self Defence Force completed its duty, the Air Self Defence Force continued their air lift duties. Our government has decided to terminate the mission of the Air Self Defence Force by the end of this month. The process was started when I was a Minister, in September. We are confident that these contributions have been highly regarded by the international community. Japan is determined to continue our contribution to the stability of the region as a responsible member of the international community.
Earlier I mentioned the importance of economic development as a key to stability. On this front, Japan has been striving to make the most effective use of official development aids (ODAs) and every tool at its disposal to assist the nations and regions of the world, thus giving people brighter prospects for the future. One example of this is the corridor of peace and prosperity in initiative. The initiative is created on the basis of promoting regional cooperation and prosperity by joining our resources for the Palestinians in the West Bank with their neighbours. Japan has also been extending cooperation to Iraq and Afghanistan to improve their educational systems, develop their human resources and help women to live full and independent lives.
Beyond these efforts, we are faced with unprecedented challenges today. First is the financial crisis. We do believe in dealing properly with the current crisis. It is important to keep in mind that no single region or country can secure long-standing benefit on its own. We must work together in a firm and courageous manner in securing the common interest of human beings, which extend far beyond petty differences, and we must avoid repetition of the nightmare of the Great Depression 80 years ago. This is the underlying view when Mr Aso, the Prime Minister of Japan, announced at the G20 summit meeting the readiness to extend $100 billion in response to the urgent needs of the emerging economies, as well as medium and small-sized countries.
On the other hand, the current economic turmoil brought about the rapid decrease in oil price, shrinking national income in the Middle East, cooling down foreign investment, devaluation of the dollar due to the dollar peg of GCC currencies, and the stock price decline. Thus it is gradually affecting the economies of the GCC region. Due to the social reality that the oil-producing GCC countries depend on large numbers of expatriate workers and simultaneously suffer high unemployment of the young generation, diversification of the economy and promotion of employment are priority issues for these countries. Keeping this in mind, Japan has been building the so-called multi-layered relationships with GCC countries, cooperating with these countries in such fields as education, human resource development and diversification of industries.
I recognise that GCC countries are shifting their direction towards earning hard currency by oil export while satisfying their domestic energy needs by new energy development and nuclear energy, as oil is a limited natural resource. Japan recognises that the peaceful use of nuclear energy is the right of every country. We intend to promote peaceful atomic cooperation under the condition of securing the three Ss: security, safety and safeguard.
Second is the serious issue of piracy. Around 90% of the crude oil which Japan imports is supplied by oil-producing in the Gulf region transported by tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. Thus the security of the Gulf and the surrounding waters is critical to energy security for us. Japan has great concerns about the instance of pirates flagrantly operating off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden. At the moment, the ruling parties of Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), together with our friend and partner the Komeito party, are intensely discussing the issues, with some advocating the preparation of a standing law to enable Japan to tackle piracy cases. The international community should take joint actions to address the issues in an effective and quick manner. Japan continues to make efforts to strengthen the capacity of the coastal guards off of the countries concerned.
Before closing, let me mention that we are waiting to observe the changes in, as well as the continuation of, policies of the coming US administration on the Middle East around issues such as the Middle East peace talks, Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran’s nuclear position. We are also watching carefully the judgements of the people of these countries here through the results of the general election in Israel next February, ｒeferendum in Iraq next July, and the presidential election in Iran next June.
Japan is becoming a non-permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations from the beginning of next year, and we will tackle important issues on the international arena for the sake of securing the peace and stability of the world. Thank you for your attention.
