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Official visit to Japan and Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety
Alain Berset’s first visit to Japan. On 12 April, Shinzo Abe welcomes him with military honours at the Kantei. Their talks cover the update of the 2009 free trade agreement, research, Japan’s G20 presidency in 2019, ASEM, the Korean peninsula and the Tokyo 2020 Games. Before the press, Alain Berset says Switzerland is ready to help ease tensions in Korea. At the dinner hosted by Abe, he makes the case for multilateralism: today’s challenges “cannot be met by a single country, even a hyperpower”.
On 14 April, as health minister, he speaks at the third Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety, hosted by Katsunobu Kato. In Switzerland, he points out, preventable adverse events cost 420,000 days of hospitalisation every year, the capacity of a large hospital. He calls for the adoption of the Tokyo Declaration and for a World Patient Safety Day recognised by the WHO. The programme also includes Honda, the digital art studio Rhizomatiks, kabuki and a “Japan-Swiss Night” at the ambassador’s residence.
Thursday 12 April 2018 — Tokyo
- Welcome ceremony with military honours at the Kantei
- Official meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
- Joint press statements
- Dinner hosted by Shinzo Abe, toast by the President
Friday 13 April 2018 — Tokyo
- Visit to the Hakkaku sumo stable
- Visit to Honda headquarters (robotics, health technologies, hydrogen)
- Working lunch with Japanese experts on the challenges of ageing societies
- Visit to the digital art studio Rhizomatiks
- Ministerial dinner hosted by Katsunobu Kato, Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, toast by the President
Saturday 14 April 2018 — Tokyo
- Bilateral meeting with Katsunobu Kato
- Address at the third Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety
- Bilateral meeting with Jeremy Hunt, British Health Secretary
- Kabuki performance by Bando Yajuro
- Visit to the Meiji Shrine
- Meeting with the Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan
- “Japan-Swiss Night” at the Swiss ambassador’s residence
Speeches on this site
- Point de presse avec le Premier ministre japonais Shinzo Abe (French-language page)
- Toast au dîner offert par le Premier ministre Shinzo Abe (French-language page)
- Toast au dîner ministériel du troisième sommet mondial sur la sécurité des patients (French-language page)
- Allocution au troisième sommet ministériel mondial sur la sécurité des patients (French-language page)
- Japan-Swiss Night à la résidence de l’ambassadeur de Suisse (French-language page)
Sources