Takaichi, Macron affirm cooperation to calm Middle East situation

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and French President Emmanuel Macron, in a summit held on Wednesday (April 1), affirmed the importance of bringing calm to the Middle East as soon as possible.

At their meeting held at the State Guest House in Tokyo, the two leaders also expressed their readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe ship navigation through the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing conflict between the U.S.-Israeli forces and Iran.

Furthermore, they agreed to be in close communication over the stable supply of critical materials, such as crude oil,

The Iran situation is "an urgent issue for both our countries," Takaichi told Macron.

The French leader said that Japan and France can demonstrate their close cooperation over the Iran situation.

As this year's chair of the Group of Seven industrialised nations, France in June is slated to hold a summit under the framework, bringing together the leaders of the two nations, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy and the United States, plus the European Union.

Macron has attracted the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump due to his opposition to military involvement in the Iran situation.

Also during Wednesday's summit, the Japanese and French leaders affirmed cooperation in the economic security field.

They shared their grave concerns over export restrictions on critical minerals, such as rare earths, with China's growing economic coercion in mind.

The two also agreed to work together strategically to boost supply chain resilience, while agreeing on a road map for such cooperation.

With their countries heavily dependent on China for rare earths and other critical minerals, Takaichi and Macron vowed to deepen cooperation to diversify procurement routes.

They also discussed developing rare earth mines in third-party countries through a public-private project, as well as enhancing rare earth refining capabilities at factories in France.

At a press conference after the summit, Takaichi said that the Japan-France rare earth refining project has been making steady progress, emphasising that the two sides will boost cooperation in this area.

It was Macron's first trip to Japan since the 2023 G-7 summit held in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima.

To wrap up their latest meeting, Takaichi and Macron signed a joint statement vowing further strategic cooperation between Japan and France across a wide range of areas, including defence and science and technology.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]