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Outline of Japan-South Africa Summit Meeting

September 2, 2002

1. On September 2, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met with President of the Republic of South Africa Thabo Mbeki at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, and discussed issues on development in Africa and other issues. Also attending on the Japanese side were Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe and Ambassador to South Africa Yasukuni Enoki.
2. Prime Minister Koizumi expressed his respect toward the efforts of President Mbeki which were leading the World Summit on Sustainable Development, in which countries from all around the world were participating, to success. He discussed how he had gained a real sense of the keenness of the concern these countries have for global and African issues and underlined the importance of maintaining this concern, and he requested that President Mbeki attend the World Water Forum to be held in Japan in March 2003. Noting that South Africa has realized a solid political foundation and a high standard of living under President Mbeki's leadership, Prime Minister Koizumi stated that Japan hopes to cooperate with South Africa, a politically and economically important nation, in dealing with African issues. With regard to the development of the African continent, he stated that although each African country faces a different situation, it is important to produce a successful instance of nation building on the continent so that it may serve as a model and an encouragement for the other states.
3. President Mbeki thanked Prime Minister Koizumi for attending the Johannesburg Summit and assessed the Koizumi Initiative and other initiatives set forth in the prime minister's speech at the Summit as being highly appropriate in terms of both the focus and the items raised. Explaining the progress made toward peace in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sudan and other countries, the president stated that peace must first be achieved in order to bring about Africa's socioeconomic development and democratization. Furthermore, President Mbeki noted that capacity building has been a major issue in Africa and expressed his gratitude for the fact that Prime Minister Koizumi places importance on capacity building.