End of term for Japanese ambassador

Economic and security gains marked the term of Japanese Ambassador to Australia Hideaki Ueda. Leaving Australia in October after nearly three years in the job, Mr Ueda said negotiations on an Australian-Japanese Economic Partnership Agreement and a Free Trade Agreement will establish a new and more integrated economic relationship between the countries in the coming decades. On diplomacy and security, Mr Ueda noted that Australia and Japan are contributing largely to the stability of the Asia-Pacific region and consequently the world through partnerships in anti-terrorism and in Iraq. In his time in office, the 30th anniversary for the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation marked 2006 as the Australia-Japan Year of Exchange. Takaaki Kojima, former ambassador to Singapore, will replace Mr Ueda in Australia.