Visiting Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicolae Tabacaru and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura signed a communique Monday pledging to further enhance bilateral ties based on universal values such as democracy and basic human rights.
Tabacaru, Moldova's first Cabinet member to visit Japan, is scheduled to hold talks with government officials and business leaders before departing Thursday. In the joint communique, released Monday, the foreign ministers reaffirmed that the two countries will strive to achieve world peace and stability by observing the United Nations charter.
Japan opened diplomatic relations with Moldova in 1992 after the East European nation, bordered by Ukraine and Romania, declared independence from the former Soviet Union in August 1991. With scarce natural resources for industrial use, the newborn state, which is mainly dependent on agriculture, hopes to enhance economic ties with other parts of the world, Foreign Ministry officials said.