Dr Fatih Birol meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and other leaders

TOKYO - Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director, was in Japan today to meet with Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and other government ministers.

In his meeting with Prime Minister Abe, Dr Birol expressed appreciation for Japan’s strong support of the IEA over many years. Discussions focused on upcoming IEA contributions to the G20 Osaka Summit, particularly a major new report on Hydrogen energy.

Dr Birol also had a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Mr Tarō Kōno to discuss IEA inputs to Japan’s G20 Presidency, work on clean energy investment and progress with the IEA’s “open doors” strategy to deepen engagement with emerging economies.

Dr Birol with Mr Hiroshige Seko, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of JapanDr Birol with Mr Tarō Kōno, Foreign Minister of Japan

He then met with Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Mr Hiroshige Seko. Their talks once again focused on the work the IEA is doing to support Japan’s G20 Presidency, including projects on Hydrogen energy, energy efficiency and clean energy investment.

Earlier in the day, Dr Birol met with Mr Hiroaki Nakanishi, Chairman of Keidanren, Japan’s Business Federation, discussing a range of issues including the upcoming B20 Summit and IEA’s work on power grids.