Japan and France can have a solid role to play in today's globalized world if the two countries share a common goal and pursue further cooperation, French Ambassador Christian Masset said recently in Tokyo.

"The two nations can take action together, because we share the same values as a democratic society, and we have a shared interests as advanced economies," Masset said during a Dec. 10 lecture at Aoyama Gakuin University.

In his lecture, titled "France and Japan in the Globalization," the 13th in a series by Tokyo-based ambassadors cosponsored by The Japan Times, Masset noted that France supports Japan getting permanent member status on the United Nations Security Council "so that the U.N.'s governance will be strengthened."