Speaker Nukaga attends the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament and makes goodwill visit to Sweden

Mr. NUKAGA Fukushiro, Speaker of the House of Representatives, visited the Swiss Confederation and the Kingdom of Sweden from Sunday, 27 July to Thursday, 31 July to attend the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Switzerland and make a goodwill visit to Sweden.

Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament

Speaker Nukaga attended the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 29 July (local time).

In the inaugural session of the conference, Ms. Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva; Dr. Tulia Ackson, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union; Mr. Courtenay Rattray, Chef de Cabinet of the UN Secretary-General; Ms. Maya Riniker, President of the National Council of the Swiss Confederation; Mr. Martin Chungong, Secretary General of the IPU; and actor Michael Douglas, a UN Messenger of Peace, delivered their opening addresses.

The session was followed by the general debate, the theme of which was "A world in turmoil: Parliamentary cooperation and multilateralism for peace, justice and prosperity for all." Mr. Nukaga and other presiding officers gave speeches.

In his address, Speaker Nukaga stated that Japan has offered official development assistance totaling more than 600 billion dollars under the banner of "human security" as the challenges facing the international community have become more diverse and severe than ever. He also noted that he himself promoted ODA, particularly policy on human security, based on his guiding principle of taking a grounded approach. Referring to Japan's support for providing quality education to all, which is the focus of that policy, Mr. Nukaga shared examples where former students who studied under a project called the ASEAN University Network/Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network, on which Japan spent about 100 million dollars, have contributed to the development of research and education in the region. He then expressed his intention to contribute as a parliamentarian to expanding international cooperation in the area of education and in other fields and asked other presiding officers for their continued cooperation and utmost effort to ensure the stability and prosperity of the international community.

Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament

At this conference, panel discussions were held in addition to the general debate. On the final day of the conference, a High-Level Declaration of the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament was adopted as an outcome of the discussions.

High-Level Declaration (PDF:419KB)

While he was in Geneva, Mr. Nukaga had a bilateral meeting with Mr. Dashzegve Amarbayasgalan, Chairman of the State Great Hural of Mongolia. He also had a brief exchange with Mr. Woo Won-shik, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, at the conference venue.

Mr. Nukaga and his Mongolian counterpart

Mr. Nukaga and his South Korean counterpart

Speaker Nukaga's goodwill visit to Sweden

Prior to the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, Mr. Nukaga made a goodwill visit to Stockholm, Sweden, on 27 and 28 July (local time) and had a meeting with Dr. Andreas Norlén, Speaker of the Riksdag, and his fellow members of the Riksdag on 28 July.

At the meeting, Speaker Nukaga commented that although geographically located in different parts of the world, in Asia and Europe, Japan and Sweden are partners with shared values, including freedom and democracy and that to protect these values, both countries, with shared ideals, should address regional and international issues in order to maintain a stable international order, to which Speaker Norlén agreed.

Dr. Norlén remarked that what Mr. Nukaga mentioned was of great interest, and highly valued Japan's commitment to European security, including support for Ukraine, stating that the security of the two regions, to which Japan and Sweden belong, is interrelated.

The two Speakers, together with the other members of the Riksdag, also discussed a wide range of topics, including regional affairs in East Asia, the growing political divide across the globe, Japan's measures to address the declining birthrate and reforms of the social security system.

Speaker Nukaga attended a dinner hosted by Speaker Norlén and had a tour of the Riksdag as well.

Mr. Nukaga and his Swedish counterpart