The Ambassador's Speeches

» Remarks by H.E. Yutaka Yoshizawa Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of the Fiji Islands On the Occasion of the Rotary Dinner on 28th January at Tanoa Plaza

Good evening everyone, Ni Sa Bula and Namaste.

At the outset, I wish to express my profound sympathy to those who have been affected by the recent floods. I hope the victims of the flood will overcome their difficulties through own efforts and through help from both within and outside Fiji.   

It is my honor to speak before Rotarians here in Suva tonight.

I have a personal attachment to the Rotary movement myself. As I was the Japanese Consul General of Chicago from April 2004 until the summer of 2006, I had a number of opportunities to experience Rotary’s activities there. The Rotary movement was born in Chicago and Rotary Chicago Chapter was called Rotary One. I was lucky enough to be accepted as an honorary member of Rotary One. Also, the Headquarters of the Rotary International is situated in Evanston, a Chicago suburb, where we happened to reside and, therefore, I visited Rotary International Headquarters several times.

Consequently, I know a little bit about the Rotary, its activities and the philosophy behind them. Accordingly, I was very glad when I was informed of the plan by International Rotary’s 2650 District to extend to extend assistance to Levuka in the fields of public health, education and sanitation, amounting to 10 million Japanese Yen or 200 thousand Fiji dollars. I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that the portion of the fund is earmarked for the activities of JICA volunteers. I hope this funding will greatly help ease the difficulties faced by communities in Levuka.

Today, I wish to take this opportunity to share with you my observations on Japan-Fiji relations as well as the current economic and social situation in Japan. Let me start with Japan-Fiji relations.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1970, the relationship between the Republic of the Fiji Islands and Japan has steadily been strengthened.

Our two way trade in 2006 was roughly 100 million US dollars. We import sugar, timber and fish from Fiji, while Fiji imports automobiles, electronics and other manufactured products. The Amount of imports and exports are fairly balanced.

Tourism is another important component in our relationship. Currently, some 20,000 Japanese visit Fiji every year. As a result of the recent decision by Air Pacific to withdraw from the Narita-Nadi route, this number could be substantially reduced this year.

However, I hope that either Air Pacific or some other carries will resume Japan-Fiji service in a not so distant future, so that there will be a quick return of Japanese tourists to Fiji and will be a further increase in the number of Japanese tourists.

People- to-people exchange is also very important in strengthening our relationship. The Japanese Government Scholarship Program was introduced in Fiji in 1982, and since its inception, a total of 113 students from Fiji have been awarded with the scholarships to pursue their academic aspirations in Japan. Currently, 23 Fiji youth are studying upon Japanese Government scholarship.

At this juncture, I wish to refer to Japan’s Development assistance. I believe Japan’s aid to Fiji has been much appreciated by the many people of Fiji.

Currently there are some 50 JICA experts and volunteers working together with Fiji’s counterparts in areas such as engineering, health care, education and sports. Some 80 people participate in Japan’s training programs, every year. We also provides small grant of 50 to 100 thousand dollars for some 15 projects every year. In 2008, we provided such small grants for 14 projects amounting to 1 million US dollars in areas such as education, healthcare, rural infrastructure and waste management. Japan will continue to implement projects which will benefit the everyday lives of the people of Fiji.

As for somewhat larger grants a project is underway for the establishment of the University of the South Pacific’s Information and Communication Technology Centre in Suva, at the Laucala Campus. This Centre will serve many USP campuses throughout the region.

Now, I wish to dwell upon Japan’s relationship with the whole Pacific region. Japan has been developing a strong relationship with the whole Pacific region and Fiji is also important to us in this regard with its geographical location and infrastructure, as well as in view of the fact that University of the South Pacific, PIF Secretariat and many UN regional offices are seated in Fiji.

Every year, Japan participates in the PIF Leader’s meeting as a dialogue partner. Japan has also been hosting Japan-PIF Summit Meeting, better know as PALM, every three years since 1997. As this year is such a year again, Japan will host the 5th Japan-PIF Summit Meeting or PALM 5 on May 22 and 23 in Hokkaido, the northern most islands of Japan.

At the PALM 5, a number of issues will be discussed in order to identify how Japan can work together with countries of the Pacific in tackling various challenges.

As far as Fiji’s political situation is concerned, naturally, Japan strongly hopes that there will be a return to a democratic political system as early as possible. This will be good to promote Fiji’s relationship with Japan as well as Fiji’s relationship with many other countries. On its part, Japan is ready to help when such assistance is required. For instance, Japan has expertise in helping the implementation of elections in many regions, so it is well placed to provide assistance to Fiji in such areas.

Let me now turn to my thoughts on the current economic and social situation in Japan. Please bear in mind, the following is my personal observation and does not necessarily reflect my Government’s view.

Japan’s economy is currently in recession as are economies of many advanced countries. Japan’s Cabinet Office, which is responsible for economic analyses, officially admitted recently that economic growth, which lasted 69 consecutive months from February 2002, ended in October 2007 and Japan’s economy has been in a contraction phase since then. During the said period of growth, Japan’s economy grew on average of 2 per cent annually, Now, the Government forecasts that growth for Japan’s Fiscal Year 2009, or April 2009-Mrch 2010 period will be 0 per cent, while growth for Japan’s Fiscal Year 2008, or April 2008-March 2009 period will be minus 0.8 per cent. According to the most recent forecast by the Bank of Japan, growth for the Japanese Fiscal Year 2009 will be minus two percent (-2%), while growth for the Japanese Fiscal Year 2008 will be minus 01.8 percent (-1.8).

Under the circumstances, the Japanese authorities took series of measures to boost Japan’s economy. In December of 2008, the Bank of Japan lowered the overnight call rate to 0.1 per cent from 0.3 per cent. The Supplementary Budget of 1.8 trillion yen was adopted in the Parliament in October of 2008 and a proposal for the Second Supplementary Budget of 4.8 trillion yen was currently being debated at the parliament. These attempts are being pursued despite the fact that total amount of outstanding public debt is 160 per cent of GDP.

 Japan’s economy still has a number of strong factors. It has one of the world best manufacturing sectors, supported by high engineering skills and aggressive investment for research and development. Japan’s financial sector is relatively sound, compared to the American and European counterparts, thanks to the very difficult transformation in late 1990’s and early 2000’s. I hasten to add that some of the best manufacturing firms and financial institutions recorded operating losses in the most recent quarters. Despite the heavy debt of public sector, Japan’s economy as a whole is free from overseas borrowing and has big assets abroad.

Accordingly, as world economy gradually recovers from recession, Japan’s economy will make a quick come back. It is less clear whether it will recover from recession even earlier than the major economies such US and China.

In the long term, Japan’s biggest problem arises from the fact that Japan has a rapidly aging society and that Japan’s population seems to be shrinking fast. Baby boomers are about to join the aged group or a group over 65 years, while the average number of children each woman is expected to give birth in her life time is only 1.3. Of course, this number should be more than 2 to maintain up a young and vibrant population.

Already, the percentage of people over 65 years old is 22 per cent of the total population.. This percentage will increase to 29 per cent by 2020 and will further increase to 40 per cent in 2050. By that time, the percentage of people between 15 and 64 years of age, who are considered to fuel the work force, will be reduced to 51 per cent of the total population.

The Japanese population, which started to decrease in 2005, will be reduced to 90 million by the year 2055, from the current population of 127 million, or there will be a 30% reduction in population size.

In this kind of extremely aged society, the pressure from the need to support the aged people, including the need to bear pension and health care cost will be tremendous.

You might think that one way of easing the situation would be to accept more immigrants. The number of those who are born outside of Japan and are currently living in Japan is little over 2 million, which is some 2 per cent of the total population. Although policies to increase the rate of immigration are being advocated by a few of the influential politicians as well as some business leaders, the majority of Japanese people still seem to be cautious in supporting drastic changes in immigration policies. This is particularly the case now that many foreign workers are the first to lose their jobs under the current economic conditions.

On a brighter note, I am happy to say that Japan has one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world, and it has maintained its position for quite some time now. An average Japanese lives up to approximately 80 to 81 years. Compared to its economic powerhouse status where stress, obesity and lifestyle diseases, pollution, and fast foods should be synonymous, Japan has been able to preserve longer lives for its citizens through a combination of ideals such as, tradition, lifestyles, eating habits etc. We would all agree that human lives are priceless, and I believe the people of Japan deserve commendation for attaining an impressive life expectancy average.

I will stop here, so that I can entertain your questions.

Thank you for paying attention.