Director-General Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü (right) and Minister for Foreign Affairs in Japan, Mr Seiji Maehara (left)
The OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, visited Tokyo from 15 to 17 December 2010 where he met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Seiji Maehara, and other senior ministerial and cabinet level officials.
In his meeting with the Foreign Minister, Director-General Üzümcü discussed a range of issues related to implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), focusing on the need to complete the destruction of existing chemical weapons and to maintain an effective nonproliferation regime to prevent their re-emergence. The Director-General commended Japan for its productive cooperation with China and the OPCW in beginning operations in October 2010 to destroy Japan’s abandoned chemical weapons in China, and expressed his appreciation for Japan’s commitment to fulfilling its obligations under the CWC. Foreign Minister Maehara assured the Director-General of Japan’s continued cooperation in the destruction efforts and its support for efforts to ensure comprehensive implementation of the Convention globally.
The Director-General also held meetings with Mr Kinya Takino, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary; with Mr Banri Kaieda, Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy; with Mr Kaname Tajima, Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry; with Mr Hajime Hirota, Vice-Minister of Defense; and with Mr Takeaki Matsumoto, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs.
While in Tokyo the Director-General delivered a speech on “Future Challenges of the OPCW” to a special seminar at the Global Security Research Institute (G-SEC) of Keio University. He also visited a chemical industry plant site where a wide range of organic and inorganic chemicals are produced.