Commissioner Georgieva to visit Japan

EU News 462/2013

7 November 2013

European Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, in charge of international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response, will be visiting Tokyo ahead of this year's EU-Japan Summit, to be held on 19 Nov., to take forward bilateral cooperation in the field of disaster risk reduction and crisis management. She will meet with Minister of State for Disaster Management Keiji Furuya.

On this occasion, she will meet the press at the Japan National Press Club and outline the EU's efforts in the area of disaster management and civil protection and the new initiatives planned on this front.

The EU has a unique system of burden-sharing between its Member States in the case of major natural disasters, industrial accidents and other man-made disasters. In March, Commissioner Georgieva exchanged letters of cooperation with Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Akihiro Ohta to provide a framework for closer bilateral cooperation between the EU system of disaster management and that in Japan. The letters provide the basis for cooperation in a broad range of disaster risk reduction efforts, including water-related disasters such as floods, droughts and tsunami, with an overall objective to focus on learning from each other's experiences.

During her visit, the Commissioner will brief her Japanese counterparts on the crisis management initiatives undertaken by the EU, the new Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) and the reinforcement of EU Civil Protection Legislation. She will also be a keynote speaker at a seminar in Tokyo on the theme "Development Assistance for a Safe and Secure Future – Building Societies Resilient against Natural Disasters".

Details of the press conference are as follows:
Date: Tuesday, 12 November, 2013
Time: 10:30-
Place: The Japan National Press Club
Nippon Press Center Bldg., 2-2-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku
Language: English/Japanese (consecutive interpretation)

This event is limited to members of the media. Those interested in attending are requested to register by 17:00 on Monday, 11 November.

For more information, please contact:
Mari Koseki Tel: 03-5422-6034
Mari.Koseki@eeas.europa.eu
Miwako Suetsune Tel: 03-5422-6035 / Miwako.Suetsune@eeas.europa.eu
Digital Media:
Vicente J. Luna Tel: 03-5422-6038 / Vicente.Luna-Ganuza@eeas.europa.eu

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