Japan-Benin Relations
Japan-Benin Summit Meeting
August 30, 2019
Japan-Benin Summit Meeting(Photo: Cabinet Public Relations Office)
On August 30, for about 15 minutes, from 10:05 a.m., Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a summit meeting with H.E. Mr. Patrice Athanase Guillaume Talon, President of the Republic of Benin, in Yokohama, Japan. The overview of the meeting is as follows. President Talon is visiting Japan to participate in the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) held from August 28 to 30.
- At the outset, Prime Minister Abe stated, “I welcome your first visit to Japan as President. I look forward to working with Your Excellency, a successful businessperson, to strengthening business relations, which is one of the priorities of TICAD7. I look forward to the role Benin will play as a democratic country.” In response, President Talon stated, “I appreciate your warm welcome,” and expressed his gratitude for Japan’s long time support. President Talon stated that this is his second participation in TICAD and that he would like to cooperate with Japan on the multilateral stages as well.
- Following that, Prime Minister Abe stated that Japan highly valued and supported the Government Action Programme (PAG) implemented by President Talon, and looked forward to strengthening the bilateral relationship. Prime Minister Abe also announced Japan’s intention to support the improvement of food security in Benin, and contribute to increasing connectivity in Benin and within West Africa through developing quality infrastructure. Furthermore, Prime Minister Abe referred to the increasing interest shown by Japanese companies towards Benin and requested further improvements in the country’s business environment. In response, President Talon expressed his expectations for the cooperation in the education sector including vocational training, as well as promotion of investment by Japanese companies. Prime Minister Abe commented that public recognition of Benin in Japan has increased, mentioning the success of Mr. Rui Hachimura, a Japanese professional basketball player, whose father is from Benin.
- The two leaders also exchanged views regarding cooperation in the international arena, including UN Security Council reform, and the North Korea situation.