1. Ambassador Mr. Akio Shirota, who is in charge of International Counter-Terrorism Cooperation, visited Indonesia as the Special Envoy on behalf of the Foreign Minister of Japan and had meetings with H.E. Hassan Wirajuda, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and H.E. Widodo A.S., Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs respectively on 14 April 2005.

2. These two meetings were held as a dialogue following up the agreement between Prime Minister Koizumi and President Yudhoyono in Santiago in November 2004, to explore the cooperation between the two Governments in the field of the safety and security in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

3. In view of a number of recent incidents of attacks against Japanese-owned vessels in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, Ambassador Shirota reiterated the request to the Indonesian Government to strengthen their security measures in the Straits.

4. Ambassador Shirota also discussed with the two Ministers the way to accelerate the cooperation between the two countries in ensuring maritime safety and security in the Straits, including the issue of suppressing and preventing the recurrence of similar incidents.