MONGOLIAN PRESIDENT AND JAPANESE PM CALL PRESS BRIEFING

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The President of Mongolia Ts.Elbegdorj and the Prime Minister of Japan Mr Shinzo Abe called a press conference after they had held official talks. Mr Abe expressed a gratitude to the Mongolian leader for paying a working visit to Japan and a satisfaction with the official talks at which they had openly discussed matters of the bilateral relations. Mongolia values democracy, freedom and rule of law, and Japan wants to further deepen the partnership with Mongolia, he said. The Economic Partnership Agreement had been ratified by parliaments of the two countries, "we anonymously agreed on deepening the strategic partnership of the two countries and on developing fair, mutually beneficial and complementary cooperation. People-to-people relations between the two countries are strong. The basis for the good bilateral relations is the mutual trust," he stressed. The Japanese Premier informed all that a decision has been made to exempt the Mongolians with diplomatic passport from visas, and to issue multiple entry visas for ordinary passport bearers. Japan invited and hosted the travels of 300 children and youth from Mongolia last year in frames of the youth cooperation of North-East Asia, "we intend to invite 200 Mongolian children and youngsters this year". Japan will expand such exchanges, will promote Mongolia’s effort to accelerate its economic growth by sending experts and professionals, he noted. "Our country seeks cooperation with Mongolia in all sectors, where the pillar is a collaboration in foreign relations, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres," Mr Abe concluded. In his turn, the President of Mongolia Elbegdorj greeted His Excellency PM Shinzo Abe and the Japanese friends and noted that he had met with the Prime Minister Abe for the seventh time since 2013, "such a frequency manifests a rapid development of our countries’ relations". He underlined that Mongolia and Japan, in the recent years, had achieved closest partnership in the Nort-East Asian region, and said he wants emphasize that "Erch (vitality in Mongolian) Initiative" by Mr Shinzo Abe played a decisive role in intensifying the bilateral relations in such a short period. "Mongolians are delighted that two governments created the Economic Partnership Agreement and two parliaments ratified it," he stressed. "We see this EPA as the new era in our countries' cooperation and as the prideful achievement of the past 25 years of partnership," he said. An active foreign policy of Mr Abe’s government is playing a crucial role in ensuring international peace and stability, he underlined and expressed a belief in the consistent development of the two countries’ cooperation in many fields.