Japan, Malta to Cooperate in Enhancing Maritime Order

August 2, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his visiting Maltese counterpart, Joseph Muscat, agreed Wednesday that the two island countries will work more closely together to enhance maritime order based on the rule of law.

In their meeting held at Abe's office in Tokyo, the Japanese leader asked Muscat for the Mediterranean country's cooperation for resolving the issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals decades ago.

The two leaders also confirmed their intentions to strengthen trade and investment between Japan and Malta, after Japan and the European Union signed their economic partnership agreement for free trade last month.

At a joint press conference after the meeting, Abe said that more and more Japanese people will be able to eat bluefin tuna from Malta, an EU member, while noting that Malta is the second-largest importer of bluefin tuna farmed in Japan.

This was the second meeting between Abe and Muscat, after one held in May 2017 in the Maltese capital of Valletta. Jiji Press