Visit to Arab Republic of Egypt and Republic of Tunisia by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi
(Outline and Evaluation)
November 2003
1. Overview
Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi visited the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Republic of Tunisia from October 25 to 29 and held talks with dignitaries of both governments. In addition, agreements for economic and cultural cooperation with Japan were signed in both countries.
2. Dignitaries with whom meetings were held
(1) Egypt
- President Muhamed Hosny Mubarak
- Prime Minister Atef Mohamed Obeid
- Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher
- Foreign Trade Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali
- Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Fayza Aboulnaga
- Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa
(2) Tunisia
- President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
- Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi
- Foreign Minister Habib Ben Yahia
3. Main points of the meetings
(1) Issue of Iraq
- Based on the results of the International Conference on Reconstruction in Iraq, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi explained the Japanese policy of providing financial assistance and dispatching Self-Defense Force (SDF) units to Iraq with the objective of providing humanitarian and reconstruction assistance, and gained the understanding of both countries. The Minister also stated that Iraq should not become a failed state, and expressed that Japan will continue with its assistance without yielding to terrorist incidents. Also, the Minister noted that it is urgently necessary to recover security, and therefore the international community should assemble their efforts in the reconstruction of Iraq for the improvement of the living condition of the Iraqi people. The Minister also appealed to the Arab countries, the neighboring countries of Iraq, for their support and cooperation.
- Both countries emphasized the importance of the strengthened role of the United Nations (UN) concerning the issue of Iraq assistance; the importance of the early establishment of a government run by the Iraqis and the need to make the path to realize it clear. They also explained the current sensitivity regarding cooperation on reconstruction assistance to Iraq.
- The two countries also highly valued Japan-Egypt joint medical assistance to Iraq, and expressed their strong interest in promoting and enlargement of triangular cooperation for the reconstruction of Iraq, of which Foreign Minister Kawaguchi also confirmed the importance.
(2) Issue of peace in the Middle East
- Foreign Minister Kawaguchi and her counterparts in the two countries shared a view concerning the importance of serious and bold efforts to be made by both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, as well as active and constructive involvement by the international community including the United States in order for peace in the Middle East to find a breakthrough under the current critical situation. It was pointed out that the core issue is not "security" but "occupation."
- Foreign Minister Kawaguchi explained Japan's assistance in reforms and human resources development for the Palestinians as well as Japan's efforts toward confidence building between the Palestinians and Israelis, and received high evaluation from both countries for these efforts. Both countries showed their willingness towards exchanging opinions with Japan in this field. They also showed their positive attitude towards promoting triangular cooperation for human resources development.
(3) Cultural and intellectual dialogues
- To Egypt, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi mentioned the success of the 1st meeting of the Japan-Arab Dialogue Forum held in Tokyo, and expressed her expectations for the second meeting scheduled to be held in Alexandria, Egypt. Furthermore, the Minister stated her wish to further promote cultural exchange and intellectual dialogue based on a proposal to be presented by the Japan-Middle East Cultural Exchanges and Dialogue Mission, and both countries agreed on this need.
- To Tunisia, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi proposed the expansion of scope for exchange, including exchange among women, and the Tunisian side welcomed this proposal.
(4) Enhancement of bilateral relations
- To Egypt, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi stated that the two nations have enjoyed even closer bilateral relations since the visit by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to Egypt in May and it is very pleasing that economic cooperation projects totaling US$200 million are progressing smoothly. The Egyptian side highly valued and expressed their gratitude for the cooperation provided by Japan. To Tunisia, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi noted that Japan will actively continue with its cooperation for human resources development, including the dispatch of Senior Volunteers of JOCV (Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers).
- Foreign Minister Kawaguchi stressed the importance to follow-up the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD III) and the promotion of triangular cooperation with both Egypt and Tunisia for this purpose. In response, they highly valued the initiative presented by Japan and expressed their expectations concerning triangular cooperation.
- Signing ceremonies for exchanges of notes (E/N) took place in each country: One for a provision of yen loans for a wind power project in Egypt; and the other for a cultural grant aid in providing athletic equipment to the Federation for the Disabled in Tunisia.
4. Evaluation
(1) Overall
Foreign Minister Kawaguchi's visit to Egypt and Tunisia came after her previous visit to Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Syria in last April, and Prime Minister Koizumi's visit to Egypt and Saudi Arabia in last May. These three high-level visits combine, strongly show Japan's placing importance on its diplomatic relations with the Middle East. It was the first visit in four years to Egypt and the very first visit to Tunisia as a Japanese foreign minister and both countries gave her their warmest welcome.
(2) Issue of Iraq and issue of peace in the Middle East
A concurrence of opinions was witnessed concerning the importance of realizing further exchange of opinions and enhancing cooperation between Japan, Egypt and Tunisia concerning the issues of Iraq and the Middle East peace. Japan gained favorable understanding from both countries regarding this basic policy on the issue of Iraq. It was significant that opinions were frankly exchanged on a ministerial level with two countries on the two major issues that the Arab countries are now facing. Furthermore, both countries expressed their strong expectation for the political role that Japan will play it these areas and their eagerness to promote concrete projects of triangular cooperation.
(3) Cultural and intellectual dialogues
Paying respect for and understanding of different cultures is the basis of mutual understanding. Japan and Egypt agreed on the importance of continuing the dialogue with the Arab and Islamic countries, which was announced jointly with Egypt when Prime Minister Koizumi visited the Middle East in May. It was also agreed with Tunisia that the two countries would promote exchanges in broad areas, including once among women and regional exchanges as was mentioned above .
(4) Enhancement of bilateral relations
Both Egypt and Tunisia highly valued the economic cooperation provided by Japan and expressed their high expectations towards the enhancement of economic exchanges with Japan. Furthermore, new momentum has been added to the bilateral relations of Japan with each country as this Foreign Minister's visit involved the high-level dialogues in wide-ranging areas such as politics, economics and culture, including the follow-up to TICAD III.
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