Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto and visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed to push forward a partnership involving public and private cooperation to rebuild regions devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
In a meeting later on April 17 with Prime Minister Naoto Kan in Tokyo, Clinton also agreed to closely cooperate to settle the situation at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The United States proposed the partnership covering the public and private sectors. It will involve business organizations, companies, think tanks and nongovernmental organizations from the two countries, with facilitation by government officials.
The focus on private sector cooperation was highlighted by Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who accompanied Clinton on her visit to Japan and appeared at a joint news conference after Clinton's meeting with Matsumoto.
Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), was also present.
Referring to why Donohue and other officials accompanied her to Japan, Clinton said: "I asked them to come to Japan to begin a conversation with your government and business leaders. Their presence here is a reflection of the American business community's full faith in Japan's economic recovery."
Donohue added, "American companies have every reason to stay fully engaged in this important economy."
Before the meeting between Matsumoto and Clinton, the United States lifted a travel advisory it had issued to Americans to refrain from trips to Japan even outside the 80-kilometer radius of the Fukushima nuclear plant.
At the same time, Clinton emphasized at the news conference that the United States will continue to closely monitor the Fukushima situation.
"This is a multidimensional crisis of unprecedented scope," Clinton said. "Our experts are aware of that and are doing all they can to assist as Japan leads in everything it can do to try to control the situation."
Cooperation on the Fukushima situation was also high on the agenda in Clinton's meeting with Kan.
Kan told Clinton that Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima plant, had released a road map for dealing with the nuclear accident.
"Japan has the responsibility to share the lessons it has learned from the accident with the international community so it can be helpful to the future," Kan said.
While Clinton did not directly comment on TEPCO's road map, she did tell Kan that continued close communications between the two nations would be important.
Clinton also passed on a message from U.S. President Barack Obama that the United States was prepared to provide every form of assistance possible.
The United States has already provided a wide range of measures in the Fukushima accident, including the dispatch of experts and equipment from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Energy Department and the Health and Human Services Department.