Spain National Day D Ual Year: Commemorative Events Strengthen Bilateral Bridges

Spain national day D ual Year: Commemorative events strengthen bilateral bridges

Miguel A. Navarro One century later, the Keicho the occasion of the opening of utedo t the leap forward in our current account balance of Japan has been an important ams bas ador of spain Mission sent by the Daimyo of the dual year, and H.R.H. political bonds in the last twelve payments into an increasing political, economic and cultur- Sendai,D ate Masamune, to the Crown Prince of Spain, now months, including the adoption surplus and the public deficit al partner for Spain for a long On the occa- Kingf o Spain, Philip III, propos- H.M. King Felipe VI. The Dual of a Partnership for Peace, — which was over 9 percent of time s and i highly valued in my sion of our Na- ing a transpacific commercial Year has covered a wide range Growth and Innovation. Gn DP i 2011 — will be reduced country.e W strongly wish to tional day, i treaty. This made Japan the first ofe mor than 500 activities, The XVII Spain-Japan Sym- to 5.6 percent by the end of this continue exploring better ways have the honor A sian country to cross this vast from joint business initiatives posium in the northern Span- year. additional measures to and opportunities for reinforc- to o convey t the ocean eastward and was the to many different cultural ishy cit of Santander in foster competitiveness and en- ing our friendship and expand- I mperial family first Japanese diplomatic mis- events, which have largely con- November will focus on the fu- trepreneurship are in place, ing our bilateral cooperation in ando t the peo- siono t the Western World. It tributedo t building new bridg- ture of our bilateral relation- and foreign direct investment new o areas t further consoli- plef o Japan the was also the first globalization es between our two societies. ship n and o the lessons learned inflows show that Spain is date this old relationship. traditional attempt in history. In particular, the official vis- regarding smart cities with the todayn a outstanding platform Withy m appreciation to The Situated on the Guadalquivir River, Seville is a major tourist warm message of friendship Four hundred years later, itso t Japan of the President of purpose of increasing our co- forg doin business with eu- JapanT imes for publishing this destination and home to three UNESCO World Heritage and goodwill from the Spanish Spain and Japan have celebrat- the Spanish Government H.E. operation in both fields. rope,A frica and Latin America. message. sites. ©turespaÑa R oyal Family. ed this historic event with a MarianoR ajoy and the Speaker Keeping momentum is im- Oct. 12 marks a stellar mo- D ual Year (2013-2014), which of the Lower House, H.E. Jesus portanto t consolidate the work ment in the history of Spain. It was graced by the High Patron- Posada, and the official visits to that has been done in the past is the date of the discovery of age of our two Crown Princes, Spainy b Japanese Prime Min- years o and t open new pros- Ay merica b christopher co- H. C I.H. rown Prince Naruhito, ister, H.E. Shinzo Abe and For- pects for the future. The year lumbus in 1492 and a land- who honored us with an offi- eign Minister, H.E. Fumio 2018 will mark another impor- mark in the Age of Discovery. cial o visit t Spain last June on Kishida have largely contrib- tant celebration, namely the 150th anniversary of our bilat- eralT f reaty o Friendship, Com- merce and Navigation, which resumed and consolidated thereafter our historical con- flict-free ties ever since. In a for- tunate coincidence, 2018 will also commemorate the Meiji R estoration, making the year an even more special occasion. Spain,e lik Japan, is being confronted by significant chal- lenges. Once our financial dif- ficulties have largely been overcome, our most important economic priority is to consol- idate growth and foster em- ployment. The government has already implemented wide- ranging structural reforms through overhauls of social se- curity, pensions, labor legisla- tion, further liberalization of goods and services markets ande mor transparency in the public sector regulation. As a result, Spanish economic growth rates are currently among the highest in the Eu- The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela has been a place of pilgrimage on the Way of St. rozone, strong exports have James since the Early Middle Ages. ©turespaÑa turned chronic deficits in the

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