- Title: JAPAN: United Kingdom looks to boost joint arms development with Japan
- Date: 15th January 2013
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (JANUARY 15, 2013) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SIGN IN JAPANESE READING: "FOREIGN MINISTRY" BRITISH DELEGATION ENTERING FOREIGN MINISTRY MEETING ROOM BRITISH MINISTER OF STATE AT THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE HUGO SWIRE GREETING JAPANESE DELEGATION SWIRE SITTING AT TABLE UK AND JAPANESE FLAGS ON TABLE SWIRE SITTING AT TABLE DELEGATES SITTING IN MEETING ROOM JAPANESE MILITARY OFFICIAL SITTING AT TABLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH MINISTER OF STATE AT THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE HUGO SWIRE, SAYING: "We should accelerate our plans to explore joint development of defence technologies, which would help to boost our countries' mutual prosperity by lowering the cost of equipment and supporting our domestic industries." MORE OF MEETING UNDERWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH MINISTER OF STATE AT THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE HUGO SWIRE, SAYING: "We are expecting the first examples of jointly developed equipment this year and we hope soon to conclude the legal framework necessary to export this technology to third countries." MORE OF MEETING UNDERWAY MORE OF JAPANESE AND BRITISH FLAGS ON TABLE
- Embargoed: 30th January 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA12CPIIH58FXNYB3YKAGH224HY
- Story Text: The United Kingdom is aiming to speed up joint arms development projects with Japan, a British Foreign Ministry official said on Tuesday (January 15).
UK Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire, nominally in charge of Britain's Latin America and Falkland Islands policy, was in Tokyo to follow up on a joint development plan agreed last year, the first time since World War Two that Japan has concluded a weapons-building deal with a country other than the United States.
"We should accelerate our plans to explore joint development of defence technologies, which would help to boost our countries' mutual prosperity by lowering the cost of equipment and supporting our domestic industries," Swire said.
"We are expecting the first examples of jointly developed equipment this year and we hope soon to conclude the legal framework necessary to export this technology to third countries."
British Prime Minister David Cameron hatched the plan with former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on an official visit to Tokyo in April.
Japanese defense policy changed in December 2011 to allow Japanese companies to export weapons and collaborate with countries other than its main ally, the United States.
But so far progress has been slow, and the UK is urgently searching for new foreign markets for its defence industry as spending cuts hit demand at home.
Experts say areas for cooperation are likely to start small, in areas such as mine detection or Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) equipment. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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