Japan will send a delegation to meet with Canadian battery and mining companies early this year, while Canada is planning a trade mission to Japan later in October, the leaders of both countries announced on Thursday after meeting in Ottawa.
Earlier in the day, Kishida said that Japan is looking to Canada to “play a major role, as a resource-rich country” on energy.
Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp, through a subsidiary, owns a 15% stake in the LNG Canada joint venture led by Shell, which Trudeau said was the “largest private investment in Canada.” The liquefied natural gas terminal is being built in British Columbia to supply Canadian natural gas to Asia.
The two leaders agreed that “China is a central challenge,” Kishida said during the news conference, and both reiterated their support for the dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
To counter China’s influence in the region and increase its own strategic sway, Canada launched an Indo-Pacific strategy in November.
Kishida welcomed Canada’s diplomatic pivot toward Asia and its efforts to deepen ties with a fast-growing Indo-Pacific region of 40 countries accounting for almost C$47 trillion ($35.2 trillion) in economic activity.
“The two leaders discussed their concerns about China’s actions in the region and agreed on the importance of a coordinated approach to security in the Indo-Pacific,” Trudeau’s office said in a statement.
