Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for coming to our National Day reception to celebrate the 79th Birthday of HM the Emperor of Japan. It is a great honor to have so many distinguished guests and friends with us this evening.

Japan highly values its relationship with Poland, and increasingly so with Poland’s rise in Europe and its growing clout on the international scene. Cooperation between our two countries with shared values is becoming more and more important as we face volatile situations in Europe and Asia. It was in this context that Prime Minister Tusk and Prime Minister Noda met last month; the both leaders agreed to further enhance the bilateral cooperation. This summit meeting was the culmination of a series of important exchanges between our two countries this year. Among these exchanges were the First Lady’s visit to Japan, political and government level consultations, and business missions including KEIDANREN’s (Japan Business Federation) coming to Poland.

Our economic ties are ever stronger with Japan’s substantial investment in Poland creating a win-win situation. According to the PaIiIZ data over the last 10 years, Japanese investment in Poland ranked No. 1 in terms of its value. The European Commission is now ready to launch a formal negotiation with Japan for a Free Trade Agreement or Economic Partnership Agreement. This Agreement once concluded will further promote trade and investment and contribute to the GDP growth and job creation in our bilateral context, Japan-Poland, Japan-EU and even Asia-Europe. Indeed, it will provide another win-win situation. We are grateful to the Polish government for its solid support for this Agreement.

On our social networking efforts, we take pride in our new Embassy Facebook; it has gained over 1,000 “likes” in just three months. Please, do visit our Embassy Facebook as well as our website. A young Polish lady, Karolina Styczynska, is applauded in both Poland and Japan, because for the first time in the history of shogi, Japanese boad game like chess, she scored a non-Japanese victory over a Japanese professional player in the official tournament held in Japan. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can call her victory a win-win situation. There are many encouraging signs in Poland such as the continued interest in learning Japanese language and martial arts, and the growing popularity of Japanese pop-culture including its games and cuisine. In this connection, I look forward to direct flights between Warsaw and Tokyo that LOT is planning to launch sometime next year. The direct air connection will certainly promote further our economic and cultural interactions.

Ladies and gentlemen,
You will have a special treat this evening. You can enjoy Green Tea from Fukuoka prefecture, some Noodles from Ajinomoto, and Plum Wines from Cho-ya. You may also find it interesting to see a new line of cosmetics from Japan’s Shiseido.

Let me conclude my remarks by saying that Japan highly values its relations and cooperation with Poland and we look forward to working with all of you to make our ties even closer and stronger. Once again, thank you very much for coming. Please enjoy the rest of the evening.