Japan-Kenya Relations

On August 29, for about 25 minutes commencing at 10:10 a.m., in Yokohama, Mr. Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs, held a Foreign Ministers’ meeting with H.E. Ms. Monica Juma, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya. The overview of the meeting is as follows. Cabinet Secretary Juma is visiting Japan to attend the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) held from August 28 to 30.

1. At the outset, Minister Kono remarked, “I welcome the opportunity to meet Cabinet Secretary Juma again since our last meeting in October. Together with Cabinet Secretary Juma, I would like to make the seventh TICAD successful and further strengthen ties between the two countries. I would expect Your Excellency’s contribution to the success of this conference.” In response, Cabinet Secretary Juma stated, “I appreciate Japan’s warm welcome, and I am confident that TICAD7 will be successful, following the success of TICADVI.”
2. Following that, Minister Kono, recognizing Kenya as an important partner in promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific and the sustainable Blue Economy, expressed his expectation to continue strengthening the cooperation with the country. Minister Kono stated that, through the establishment of “Japan-Kenya Business Dialogue,” Japan will support the Japanese corporations’ activities contributing to the region to further enhance trade and investment between the two countries. He added that Japan places importance on the development of Mombasa region as a strategic key point of the East Africa Northern Corridor and is determined to supports the economic development of Mombasa Corridor through quality infrastructure. In response, Cabinet Secretary Juma welcomed the improvement of the two countries’ relations and expressed Kenya’s expectation towards deepening cooperation in the fields of infrastructure, health, and maritime security, increasing investments from Japanese companies, and further promoting the visit of Japanese tourists to Kenya.
3. The two ministers also exchanged views regarding cooperation in the international arena, including UN Security Council reform.