Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his Singapore counterpart, K. Shanmugam, have agreed to consider expanding bilateral cooperation in training people on how to reduce the risks associated with natural disasters in Southeast Asia, Japanese officials said.
Singapore has accepted trainees from neighboring countries, teaching them with expertise from Japan under a program launched in 1997.
The ministers, who met Saturday on the sidelines of the U.N. World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction being held in Sendai, also discussed issues ranging from potential Japanese assistance in helping Singapore build a high-speed railway, to measures to improve political partnerships in East Asia.
Kishida was quoted by the officials as telling Shanmugam Japan is ready to offer its shinkansen technology to Singapore, which, together with Malaysia, is planning to build a high-speed rail link between the countries.
They also agreed on the need to strengthen the 18-nation East Asia Summit framework, the officials said, alluding to challenges facing its members on economic and security issues.
The EAS comprises the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — plus Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Russia
