FIRST HISTORIC SPEECH: Japan’s First Female PM POWERFUL REMARKS at ASEAN Summit | AQ1B

Thank you for being present. I know you are busy welcoming President Trump tomorrow, but Japan of course places importance to ASEAN, and we are appreciative of this. You have to fly back late tonight, and we wish you well in this bilateral meeting with the United States. ASEAN and Japan have long been collaborating in trade investments, and we look forward to enhancing this with you. And now it is my pleasure to invite the Excellency Takehi Isanai, Prime Minister of Japan, to deliver your opening remarks. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, I would like to express my deep condolences to the passing of Her Majesty Queen Felicita of Thailand. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to Prime Minister Aung Hlaing and the Government of Malaysia for their effort and warm welcome at the ASEAN Chair. And my gratitude goes to Prime Minister Wong of Singapore as well for his kind cooperation as the country coordinator for ASEAN-Japan. I would also like to congratulate Prime Minister Guzman on tomorrow's official accession to ASEAN. It is an honor for me to meet you as leaders of my first foreign visit as Prime Minister of Japan. Japan and ASEAN have built a relationship as trusted partners with heart-to-heart connections through long-standing cooperation in a wide range of areas. Japan advocates for a free and open Indo-Pacific and consistently supports the ASEAN outlook on the Indo-Pacific, which shares fundamental principles with FOIP. It is very gratifying to be able to adopt a joint statement with the ASEAN leaders today, which affirms the synergy between FOIP and AOP-IP and confirms our way to promote further cooperation between Japan and ASEAN. Next year marks the 10th anniversary since Prime Minister Abe launched FOIP in 2016. We will use this opportunity to reposition FOIP as a pillar of Japanese diplomacy and evolve it in line with change in the times. We would like to further strengthen our collaboration with AOP-IP to make Japan and ASEAN stronger and more prosperous. So, allow me to speak in Japanese and continue my statement for saving time, okay? Thank you, Mr. Chair. And we'll now say thank you to the media so that we can proceed with the deliberations at the plenary level. Thank you.