MINISTER of Foreign Affairs and Trade II, Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Dewa Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng met with Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, Fumio Kishida yesterday to discuss preparations for the Asean-Japan Commemorative Summit, set to be held tomorrow, during a courtesy call held at Japan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Accompanying Pehin Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng is Brunei’s Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office, Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awg Hj Mohd Yasmin bin Hj Umar.

Mr Kishida in his opening remarks noted, “This year, Brunei Darussalam as the Chair of Asean has shown great leadership and I would like to express my sincere respect for the leadership.

“To put a final touch to this year, we are expected to host the Asean-Japan Commemorative Summit this weekend and would like to cooperate with Brunei as the co-chair to achieve great success with the meeting.”

The Japanese Foreign Minister also congratulated Pehin Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng for being the recipient of the Japanese ‘Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star’ recently, and expressed hopes for the continued strengthening of bilateral relations between both countries.

In addition to preparations for the summit, Pehin Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng noted, “We are also taking advantage of our visit here in Japan to look at bilateral cooperation of both nations, especially in the energy sector. Yesterday we met with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Toshimitsu Motegi. We had a very substantive discussion on how we can further move the Brunei and Japan cooperation.”

Pehin Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng also pointed out that the Asean-Japan Economic Partnership had reached an agreement, details of which are being looked into.

Meanwhile, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam arrived yesterday evening to attend the Bilateral Summit Meeting and the Asean-Japan Commemorative Summit in Tokyo, Japan. - Borneo Bulletin (13 December 2013)