Ashraf AboArafe
Dr. Badr Abdel Aati, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs, held political talks with Ms. Yoko Kamikawa, Japanese Foreign Minister, on Friday, August 23, on the sidelines of his participation in the TICAD Ministerial Meeting, which is being held in the Japanese capital, Tokyo.
Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, the official spokesperson and Director of the Public Diplomacy Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, stated that the Japanese Foreign Minister was keen at the beginning of the meeting to congratulate Dr. Abdel Aati on assuming his duties, expressing her country’s appreciation for the important role played by Egyptian diplomacy on the regional and international arenas. Kamikawa noted that this year coincides with the 70th anniversary of cooperation between Egypt and Japan, explaining that their countries clearly appreciate this cooperation over the past years, which is represented in Japan’s support for a large number of development projects in Egypt, most notably the Grand Egyptian Museum.
The Japanese Foreign Minister stressed that her country attaches great importance to achieving peace and stability in the world, including the East Asia and Middle East regions, and that her country appreciates that the file of cooperation with African countries is of advanced importance, welcoming the participation of the Minister in the TICAD Ministerial Meeting, and expressing her aspiration for rich discussions during the meeting that will yield tangible results that enhance the prospects of cooperation between Japan and African countries.
For his part, Minister Abdel-Ati praised the effective Japanese role in the regional and international arenas, and the convergence of visions between the Egyptian and Japanese sides, especially with regard to respecting the rules of international law, international humanitarian law and other common humanitarian principles. He also valued the joint cooperation between the two friendly countries over the past years, stressing the importance of reflecting the promotion of relations to the level of strategic partnership in all areas of cooperation without exception, and the Egyptian side’s aspiration to build on this momentum through executive steps agreed upon by the two sides, especially in the field of enhancing economic and investment cooperation between the two countries.
The official spokesman added that the Minister of Foreign Affairs noted that the global economic conditions have cast their shadows on developing countries, including Egypt, over the past few years, pointing to the economic challenges facing Egypt at the present time, including hosting nearly nine million foreigners on its territory, which increases the burdens on the state’s resources as a result of the increase in the volume of services provided by the Egyptian state to them, similar to Egyptian citizens.
In connection with developments in the region, “Kamikawa” indicated that her country is following with great concern what is happening in Gaza, and was keen to listen to Minister Abdel-Ati’s assessment of the latest developments in the Egyptian/American/Qatari mediation efforts to cease fire and release the hostages, expressing Japan’s aspiration to contribute effectively to the reconstruction efforts in the post-war period. In this context, the Minister of Foreign Affairs praised the existing tripartite cooperation mechanism between Egypt, Jordan and Japan in light of the mechanism’s efforts to engage in improving the economic conditions and reconstruction efforts in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, especially in the fields of energy and electrical connection lines with Jordan and Iraq and enhancing exports in Palestine and others.
The official spokesman concluded his statements by pointing out that Minister Abdel Aati was keen at the end of the meeting to express Egypt’s aspiration for the TICAD ministerial meetings to yield tangible results that enhance the areas of existing cooperation between Japan and Africa, and open new horizons for cooperation that serve the interests of both sides, noting the Egyptian side’s readiness for tripartite cooperation with Japan in supporting development efforts in African countries and building on positive models in this field.
The two ministers agreed to maintain the pace of communication during the coming period, and to continue consultation and coordination on regional and international issues of interest to both sides, in addition to working together to advance bilateral relations in all fields in connection with raising bilateral relations between the two countries to the level of strategic partnership.
