Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his counterparts from Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia agreed in Warsaw Sunday to deepen cooperation in energy, including nuclear and renewable power.
In a statement issued after the first-ever summit between Japan and the so-called Visegrad Group of Eastern European nations, prime ministers Donald Tusk of Poland, Petr Necas of the Czech Republic, Viktor Orban of Hungary and Robert Fico of Slovakia also agreed to strengthen security ties by organizing a seminar, perhaps by the end of the year, and confirmed the significance of holding regular talks at the leader and foreign ministerial levels.
Since the four nations are planning to boost nuclear power generation to meet rising demand for energy, Abe is hoping the summit will also generate demand for Japanese infrastructure projects, especially nuclear power technology, as well as investment that can help revive the world's third-largest economy.