Shinzo Abe, Obama agree on cooperation on Ebola, TPP deal

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Barack Obama agreed on Wednesday that the international community should work together to tackle the Ebola epidemic, according to the Foreign Ministry here.
During their 25-minute telephone conversation, Abe and Obama shared the view that the outbreak of Ebola poses a threat to international peace and security and confirmed the need of a concerted effort for the issue by the international community, the ministry said in a press release.
Abe explained Japan's aid for combating Ebola and its plan to accelerate assistance measures for people in Ebola-hit countries. In reply, Obama expressed appreciation for Japan's efforts.
The number of Ebola cases has risen to nearly 9,000, with the number of dead climbing to nearly 4,500, mostly in West Africa such as Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, according to the World Health Organization. Japan has supplied drugs and dispatched medical experts to West Africa.
The two leaders also agreed to continue to work closely toward an early conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement. In the TPP free trade talks, the member countries have continued negotiations over mainly differences on tariffs on imported goods.
The TPP countries -- Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam account for almost 40 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and about one-third of all world trade.
Abe and Obama also welcomed the recent release of an interim report on revision of the US-Japan defense cooperation guidelines and exchanged views on the security situation in East Asia.