Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his British counterpart, David Cameron, agreed Monday that preventing corruption prevention should be among the issues discussed at next year's Group of Seven summit, a Japanese official said.
The need to fight graft was discussed during the previous day's broad session by Abe, Cameron and the other G-7 leaders at this year's summit in Schloss Elmau, Germany, in connection with issues related to a planned China-led infrastructure bank and steps to help emerging economies improve infrastructure.
Cameron asked Abe to address the issues of anticorruption measures and tax evasion in next year's G-7 summit to be held in Shima, Mie Prefecture, according to Hiroshige Seko, deputy chief Cabinet secretary.
The issues were among key topics in the 2013 summit hosted by Britain. The other G-7 members are Canada, France, Italy and the United States.
Abe told Cameron it is important to deal with corruption and Japan will address the issue of graft prevention at the G-7 summit next year, Seko said.
While Britain has applied to join the envisioned Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Japan has not, citing concerns about whether the bank can operate with transparent governance and prevent possible misuse of funds.
The Japanese and British leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to working on concluding an economic partnership agreement, centered on a free trade pact, between Japan and the European Union by the end of this year, according to Seko.
Abe expressed hope that Britain will play a bigger role in the Asia-Pacific region both in the economic and security domains.