Japan-Central African Republic Relations

On August 29, for about 15 minutes, from around 4:55 p.m., Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a Summit Meeting with H.E. Mr. Faustin Archange Touadera, President of the Central African Republic, in Yokohama, Japan. The overview of the meeting is as follows. President Touadera is visiting Japan to participate in the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) held from August 28 to 30.

1. At the outset, Prime Minister Abe stated, “I welcome Your Excellency’s first visit to Japan as well as consecutive participation following TICADVI,” and added, “The peace and stability of Central African Republic is essential for the prosperity of the African continent as a whole. I intend to support Central African Republic’s efforts towards nation-building, including human resources development and institution building.” In response, President Touadera stated, “I thank you so much for the invitation to TICAD7,” and also expressed his gratitude for the visit by State Minister for Foreign Affairs Sato to the Central African Republic in May last year.
2. Following that, Prime Minister Abe welcomed the signing of the Peace Agreement between the Government of the Central African Republic and armed groups in February this year and added that Japan intends to cooperate with international organizations and others to continue to support the progress on the Peace Agreement. Moreover, Prime Minister Abe expressed his intention to support improvement of food security in the Central African Republic. In response, President Touadera expressed his expectation for Japan’s support for the Peace Agreement as well as for investment from Japanese companies, and appreciated NAPSA (New Approach for Peace and Stability in Africa) announced by Prime Minister Abe on the preceding day August 28.
3. The two leaders also exchanged views regarding cooperation in the international arena, including UN Security Council reform, and the North Korea situation.