ニュース 2010/11/12 Okada receives courtesy call from Singaporean Foreign Minister On November 12, DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada received a courtesy call from George Yong-Boon Yeo, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore. The two exchanged views on a variety of topics, in a meeting that was also attended by Administration Committee Chair Makoto Taki and International Department Director-General Chinami Nishimura. Okada welcomed Yeo, and commented, “My successor as Minister for Foreign Affairs Seiji Maehara is an extremely talented politician, and I would like to ask you to extend the same kindness to him as you have shown to me.” Yeo responded, “As Co-Chair of the APEC Ministerial Meeting in Yokohama [Mr. Maehara] has been instrumental in ensuring that the meeting is a success. Both Minister Maehara and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ohata are extremely punctual, and it was one of those meetings that you rarely see, which ended even earlier than scheduled.” Okada said, “The approval of the Diet was needed in order for the two Ministers to participate in the APEC meeting. So in other words, this was a meeting that was realized thanks to the cooperation of the opposition parties.”