Remarks by President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan Before Bilateral Meeting
RIHGA Royal Hotel Hiroshima
Hiroshima, Japan
6:02 P.M. JST
PRIME MINISTER KISHIDA: (As interpreted.) Joe, the last time we met in person was in January upon my visit to the U.S. And it is indeed a great pleasure to see you again in person and especially to welcome you, Joe, here in my hometown.
The Japan-U.S. alliance is the very foundation of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific. Japan and the United States have a strong relationship not only in the area of security, we have close and strong cooperation in all areas. We very much welcome that the cooperation has evolved by leaps and bounds.
Here in Hiroshima, the U.S. company Micron is engaged in leading semiconductor research, development, and manufacturing. And this is a great case of Japan-U.S. semiconductor cooperation, and Japanese government will continue to support Micron’s efforts.
And based upon our vision to develop an ecosystem for innovation and startups in deep tech as we plan to create a global startup campus in central Tokyo, joint study with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — the MIT, one of the leading universities of the United States — has commenced. By gaining cooperation from the United States, we will materialize such vision.
Today, Joe and I will go over what we intend to discuss at the G7 Hiroshima Summit and engage in last-minute coordination. And at the summit, I am confident that the G7 will demonstrate our unwavering will to uphold free and open international order based on the rule of law — a concept that we both share.
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, Mr. President [Prime Minister], it’s wonderful to see you again and here in your own hometown. The — and thank you for hosting the G7 Summit here.
Under Japan’s leadership, we’ve already delivered progress on the G7 agenda this year. And I’m looking forward to our meetings in the days ahead.
As you said back in January when you were at the White House, I think the quote is: We face the most — one of the most complex environments in recent history — security environments. And I couldn’t agree with you more.
But I’m proud that the United States and Japan are facing it together. And, you know, we stand up for the shared values, including supporting the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereign territory and holding Russia accountable for its brutal aggression.
And we’re tracking the global challenges — from strengthening our community and our commitment to nuclear nonproliferation, to ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific. That’s at the heart of all this.
And, you know, we’re — it seems to me we’re — we’re deepening our cooperation on emerging technologies, including — including new partnerships between the United States and Japanese companies and, as you mentioned, universities as well in area- — in areas like quantum computing and semiconductors. And I want to thank you for Japan’s commitment to increase investment in these areas.
The bottom line, Mr. Prime Minister, is that when our countries stand together, we stand stronger. And I believe the whole world is safer when we do.
So, thank you again for having me here today. And we look forward to the next several days.
6:06 P.M. JST
