Italy's foreign minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi and his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono on Tuesday agreed to start holding "systematic and active" consultations on areas including peace-building, human rights and bilateral investments given the UK's planned withdrawal from the European Union, Moavero said.
"Within this innovative framework, it will beneficial to regularly identify shared objectives regarding multilateral organisations," Moavero said, referring to an agreement he and Kono signed in September last year.
"Wherever possible, we should undertake joint initiatives to foster peace and the defence of human rights in conflict zones, to assess together the opportunities for reciprocal investment, also taking into consideration the impact of Brexit on the logistics of industrial production and the financial sector," Moavero said.
During talks in Tokyo during a visit by Moavero, he and Kono also mulled the fight against terrorism, international crime and corruption, food safety, research, technological development and innovation, and cultural exchange, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Moavero and Kono's talks also covered Italy and Japan's film production and audio-visual sectors, and integrating their countries' training and higher-education courses and apprenticeships as well as re-launching tourism, the statement said.
Japan this year holds the annual G20 presidency which will pass to Italy in 2021.
