Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, arrived in Tokyo on Monday on a two-day visit to Japan, accompanied by Mr Moosa Manik, Chairman of the Maldives-Japan Parliamentary Friendship Group, and Dr. Hussain Niyaz, Executive Dirtector of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Minister met on Monday with Mr. Matsumoto, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary at the Japanese Prime Minister’s Office to handover a letter from President Mohamed Nasheed addressed to Prime Minister Taro Aso for onward transmission to the Prime Minister. At the meeting, Mr. Matsumoto recognized the recent peaceful transition of the Maldives to democracy and the introduction of multiparty politics and stated that Japan would spare no efforts to support democratic reforms. He said that Japan would also assist in stimulating the economy once the report of the current assessment of the economy becomes available.

The Minister expressed the gratitude of the Government of the Maldives for the continued assistance of Japan in the development efforts of the Maldives. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the high level of cooperation that exists between the two countries on matters of bilateral and multilateral concerns.

Later in the day, Dr. Shaheed met with H. E. Mr Hirofumi Nakasone, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan. They reviewed bilateral ties and discussed areas for intensifying and for furthering cooperation between the two countries. These included areas for economic development, climate change and human security. In that context, Foreign Minister Nakasone indicated the willingness of Japan to consider what kind of assistance it could offer when the Government of Maldives initiated study of the status of the economy is completed.

Dr. Shaheed is scheduled to meet with the Minister of Finance of Japan and several senior officials of the Government of Japan on Tuesday, 20th January 2009.