1. The Reconstruction Process Enters Full Swing

2. PM Noda and FM Gemba Attend the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly

- PM Noda’s address to the General Assembly

- Third Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI)

- G8 Foreign Ministers Meeting (ministerial follow-up meeting on the Deauville Partnership)

- Ministerial-level side event on the MDGs

3. IAEA General Conference

2. Prime Minister Noda and Foreign Minister Gemba Attend the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

Towards a Brighter Future

The 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly was held on September 20-23 in New York, and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba attended as representatives of the Government of Japan. During his stay in New York, Prime Minister Noda gave his address to the UN General Assembly, and attended and gave a speech at the United Nations High-level Meeting on Nuclear Safety and Security. At a reception hosted by the prime minister and his wife, he expressed his gratitude for the support Japan received from the international community following the Great East Japan Earthquake and his determination that Japan would recover. Prime Minister Noda also held meetings with U.S. President Barack Obama, President of South Korea Lee Myung-bak, Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, President of the European Council Herman Achille Van Rompuy, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, Prime Minister of England David Cameron, President of the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, and Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh.

Foreign Minister Gemba served as a co-chair of the Interactive Session of the United Nations High-level Meeting on Nuclear Safety and Security and led discussions as the co-chair of the Third Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative and at the Ministerial-level side event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Foreign Minister Gemba also participated in several other meetings including one on conditions in the Middle East and Africa and the Ministerial Meeting of the G4 countries on UN Security Council reform. In addition to holding meetings with the foreign ministers or equivalent of the U.S., Pakistan, Egypt, Russia, Indonesia, China, England, Libya, and South Korea, Foreign Minister Gemba held talks with the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Helen Clark and strategic talks with Gulf Cooperation Council. Furthermore, Foreign Minister Gemba invited various people including ministers of several African countries to a reception where he exchanged opinions with the representatives of numerous countries.