"The World and Japan" Database (Project Leader: TANAKA Akihiko)
Database of Japanese Politics and International Relations
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS); Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), The University of Tokyo

[Title] Joint Press Release– Comprehensive Space dialogue between France and Japan

[Place] Paris, France
[Date] January 19, 2023
[Source] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
[Notes]
[Full text]

A plenary session of the bilateral French-Japanese Space dialogue was held on Thursday, 19th January 2023 at the Secretariat-General for National Defence and Security (SGDSN), in Paris.

This meeting was the occasion to reassert the bonds that unite France and Japan and to share both partners' space policies, including related to security and defence. The quality of the dialogue reflects the common will to strengthen the exceptional partnership between our two countries for the years to come. The visit of the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, in Paris on 9th January 2023, and the bilateral sequences planned during the upcoming visit of the President of the French Republic to Japan in May 2023 for the G7 Summit in Hiroshima enshrine this dynamic.

The dialogue was held under the co-presidency of the Deputy Secretary General for Defence and National Security, Air Marshal COUSIN Vincent and by Mr. KASAI Yasuyuki and Mr. ISHIZUKI Hideo, respectively Director-General, National Space Policy Secretariat, Cabinet Office and Ambassador, in charge of International Security Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The French delegation comprised members of the SGDSN, a service of the French Prime Minister; of the Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty; of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs; of the Ministry of Armed Forces; and of the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES). In addition to the high-ranking officials from the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Japanese delegation included representatives from the National Security Secretariat, the Ministry for Education, Culture, Sports, Sciences and Technologies (MEXT); from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, from the Ministry of Defence; and from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The dialogue addressed many aspects of the Japanese and French space policies and areas of cooperation between the two countries, such as security and defence policies regarding space, civil cooperation, multilateral cooperation within the framework of the United Nations, the G7 and the space dialogue between Japan and the EU.

In order to promote exchanges between industries from both countries, a meeting with several French start-ups in the space sector was also organised for the Japanese delegation.

On Friday, 20th January 2023, the French and Japanese delegations were invited to visit ArianeGroup site at the Mureaux (Yvelines), where they were given a presentation of the programme and production line of the Ariane 6 launcher and their GeoTracker space surveillance network.