Japan FM eyes visit to Cuba

Japan FM eyes visit to Cuba: report
AFP
March 26, 2015, 5:01 pm

Tokyo (AFP) - Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida could visit Cuba
next month, a report said on Thursday, becoming one of the
highest-profile visitors to the isolated island since a thaw began
between Washington and Havana.

If the visit goes ahead, Kishida is expected to call for closer ties
with Cuba, where Japanese companies can invest in infrastructure
projects and mineral resource development, Japan's public broadcaster
NHK said.

Kishida may make the visit in late April when he travels to the United
States for a meeting on the UN nuclear non-proliferation treaty and to
hold security talks with the US side there, it said.

It would make him the first Japanese foreign minister to visit the
communist island, the broadcaster added.

The move comes after Washington and Havana in December announced they
would set aside their Cold War enmity and renew diplomatic ties.

During his visit, Kishida may hold talks with Foreign Minister Bruno
Rodriguez and other Cuban officials, NHK said. The two foreign ministers
met in Tokyo in 2013.

Japan and Cuba have maintained diplomatic ties but their channels were
limited due to the discord between Cuba and the United States, Japan's
key ally.

Asked about the reported visit, a foreign ministry official only said:
"Nothing has been decided yet."

Source: Japan FM eyes visit to Cuba: report - Yahoo7 -
https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/26808724/japan-fm-eyes-visit-to-cuba-report/