CANBERRA

Mr Nishi got in touch with me today and said he would like to have
a talk.

In the course of a brief discussion he said that his Government
was at present very much preoccupied with GATT and he did not
think that they were anxious to receive a speedy reply to their
last note. I gathered from him that it would suit Tokyo fairly
well if formal trade talks were not begun until the results of the
GATT Review were fairly clear.

He said that he personally did not expect that his Government's
wishes in connection with trade negotiations with Australia would
be fully realised. These 'wishes', it appeared, were that trade
relations between Australia and Japan should be governed by GATT.

Mr Nishi's instructions from his Government, he said, were to
explore the position. He said that he had suggested to Plimsoll
that informal talks might help matters along.

I agreed that I would see whether there was any prospect of
informal talks where each side's difficulties and possible
proposals might be examined quite privately and informally and
without any commitment at all on either side.

In relation to the establishment of a branch Japanese Bank in
Australia, he asked for this Department's support on the grounds
that it would facilitate the wool trade. I asked him if he could
give us some further particulars. He will ask Tokyo for details.

[matter omitted]