Japan, Fiji Agree to Work for Success of Pacific Island Summit

Tokyo, May 19 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama agreed Tuesday to cooperate for the success of an upcoming summit meeting of Japan and Pacific island states. The coming summit, to be held in the northeastern Japan prefecture of Fukushima for two days from Friday, will bring together the leaders of Japan and 16 Pacific island nations. This is the seventh such meeting, held every three years at the initiative of Japan. Japan skipped inviting Fiji to the last two meetings following a military coup in the country in 2006. As last year's general election restored civilian rule, Japan resumed its invitation to Fiji for the summit. At the day's meeting, Abe revealed Japan's plan to extend about 900 million yen for disaster prevention. Bainimarama expressed hopes to strengthen the Fiji-Japan relationship, saying that the country intends to recover the time lost for diplomacy. END