Japan-Zambia Relations
Japan-Zambia Summit Meeting
August 30, 2019
Japan-Zambia Summit Meeting(Photo: Cabinet Public Relations Office)
On August 30, for about 20 minutes, from 10:50 a.m., Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a summit meeting with H. E. Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, President of the Republic of Zambia, in Yokohama, Japan. The overview of the meeting is as follows. President Lungu 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, “We welcome Your Excellency’s visit to Japan following last December and I hope to continue our discussion to further promote our relations,” and added, “I hope that athletes from Zambia will show good performance during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” along with mentioning Zambia’s independence during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In response, President Lungu stated, “I appreciate Japan’s warm welcome. I offer my congratulations to Japan for hosting the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics next year. Zambia will participate in the Games, aiming to win medals.”
- Following that, Prime Minister Abe stated that he hopes to accelerate the negotiations for an investment agreement to further develop economic relations between the two countries. Furthermore, Prime Minister Abe expressed support for the efforts shown by Zambia toward securing debt sustainability and that he intends to support the effort through the dispatch of an expert. Moreover, Prime Minister Abe hoped to promote cooperation in health area by providing medical supplies, through such means as the recently signed grant aid “The Economic and Social Development Programme” and the Memorandum of Cooperation on the African Health and Wellbeing Initiative. In response, President Lungu expressed hope for further expansion of trade and investment between the two countries and gratitude for Japan’s cooperation in the fields of education, health, fishery, infrastructure, sports and others.
- The two leaders also exchanged views regarding cooperation in the international arena, including UN Security Council reform, and the North Korea situation.