Japan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs to Address AJC Global Forum 2017

NEW YORK, June 1, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Kentaro Sonoura will address the AJC Global Forum 2017, which will take place June 4-6, in Washington, D.C. The AJC Global Forum is the advocacy organization's signature annual event, bringing together more than 2,500 participants from across the United States and 70 countries around the world.

"We are honored that Minister Sonoura will make a special trip to Washington to share his perspective on regional and global challenges, and deliver a message to AJC from Prime Minister Abe," said AJC CEO David Harris, who, together with an AJC delegation, last met with the prime minister in Tokyo in October 2016.

AJC has been actively engaged with Japan through its pioneering Asia Pacific Institute (API), the first of its kind in the Jewish world, which is today chaired by Jeffrey Stone and directed by Shira Loewenberg.

"We have been traveling to Japan regularly since 1988 because Japan is a democratic powerhouse in Asia, an essential ally and partner of the United States, an increasingly close friend of Israel, and an anchor of stability in a vital part of the world," said Harris. "Our engagement with Japan, and with Japanese representatives around the world, continues to widen and deepen."

Other world leaders confirmed to address the AJC Global Forum include:

• U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster
• Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades
• Romanian President Klaus Iohannis
• Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz
• Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano
• Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, via video from Jerusalem, in conversation with five AJC young leaders
• Israeli Minister of Public Security and Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan
• Organization of American States Secretary-General Luis Almagro

AJC, founded in 1906 and with headquarters in New York, maintains 22 regional offices across the United States; 10 overseas posts, including one in Tokyo; and 34 international association agreements with Jewish communities.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

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