On September 20, 2017, the 5th GUAM-Japan Ministerial Meeting took place on the sidelines of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly. Together with the Foreign Ministers of the GUAM Member States Mr Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, was presented for the first time at the Ministerial Meeting.

The Meeting was timed to the 10th anniversary of the GUAM-Japan cooperation. During the meeting, GUAM Member States highly appreciated Japan’s contribution to the development of regional cooperation in the GUAM format in such areas as transport and logistics, energy efficiency and renewable energy, tourism, ecology and waste utilization, agriculture. The participants of the Meeting noted the importance of the joint participation of GUAM Member States at the World Tourism Exhibition ‘Tourism Expo Japan 2017’.

During the meeting, the sides stressed that the signed in 2015 GUAM-Japan Cooperation Program is a sustainable platform for further expansion and deepening of cooperation in the GUAM-Japan format and also reaffirmed their interest and commitment in implementing it.

The sides discussed the conflicts in the GUAM area, as well as the escalation of tension on the Korean Peninsula.

As a result of the Meeting, the joint press release was issued.