During the official talks between President Berset and Prime Minister Abe, both sides acknowledged the excellent bilateral relations between Switzerland and Japan, and discussed ways of further intensifying relations. A memorandum of cooperation signed in February 2018 between the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Japanese Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) is paving the way for even closer cooperation in science and research. Given the intensive economic relations between the two countries, President Berset reiterated Switzerland’s wish to update the successful bilateral free trade and economic partnership agreement that has been in place since 2009.
The talks also addressed global and international issues. Both sides stressed their support for a strong multilateral system embodied by organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Mr. Berset stressed the importance of the Asia - Europe Meeting (ASEM), which Switzerland has been part of for the last five years.
Furthermore, he congratulated Japan on the upcoming G20 presidency and expressed Switzerland’s willingness to play a part in the G20 finance track.
Both sides outlined their commitment to improving ties between Europe and Asia, also with regard to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. In that regard, Prime Minister Abe set out Japan’s (Free and Open) Indo-Pacific strategy. The delegations also discussed the situation on the Korean peninsula.
A further topic of discussion was the state of preparations for the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Switzerland will once again showcase the country by setting up a ‘House of Switzerland’, as it did at the recent winter Olympics in PyeongChang.
A further meeting planned in the course of the presidential visit was with health, labour and welfare minister, Katsunobu Kato, the host of the 3rd Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety. The aim of the series of summits launched in London in 2016 is to raise awareness for patient safety at all levels of the health sector and in health policy. On the fringes of the Tokyo summit, the themes of which included patient safety in an ageing society, the President and Head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) met with counterparts from other countries.
The program of Mr. Berset’s official visit also included a number of events which underlined the close economic and cultural ties between Switzerland and Japan. Relations between the two countries are excellent in all respects and have been for many years. In 2014 Switzerland and Japan celebrated the 150th anniversary of official bilateral relations. Japan is Switzerland's second largest trade partner in Asia and a free trade and economic partnership agreement has been in force since 2009. Japan is also a priority country for bilateral research cooperation.
