LOS ANGELES — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wrapped up his U.S. visit in Los Angeles on Friday where he shared his vision for strengthened economic and political ties between the two allies.
At a Japan-U.S. economic forum in downtown Los Angeles, Abe spoke of an “alliance of hope” that included growing investments and closer business and political ties.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said the U.S. and Japan will work toward promoting more direct investment in each other’s markets and approval of a Pacific trade agreement.
“We must reinforce an economic architecture that will shape and secure our future,” Pritzker said.
“There are two essential cornerstones of that architecture: increasing two-way investment and deepening trade” through a trans-Pacific agreement, she said.
At an earlier luncheon, Abe said there is a “synergy across the Pacific Ocean” between the nations, and he alluded to strengthened defense ties with the U.S. amid Japan’s perpetual feud with archrival China.
Since winning election in December 2012, Abe has been a strong advocate of closer ties with the U.S. His remarks came near the close of a three-day swing through California after meeting earlier in the week with President Barack Obama in Washington.
Outside the event, about 100 people chanted and held signs demanding an apology for the sexual enslavement of tens of thousands of Asian women by Japan’s imperial army during World War II.
