Japan-Egypt Relations
Japan-Egypt Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
August 16, 2021
On August 16th, commencing at 12:40 PM (local time, 07:40 PM Japan time) for approximately 80 minutes, Mr. MOTEGI Toshimitsu, Minister for Foreign Affairs, held a meeting with H.E. Mr. Sameh SHOUKRY, Minister of Foreign Affairs, followed by a working luncheon, during his visit to Egypt. The overview is as follows.
- At the outset, Minister Motegi expressed his willingness to have a candid exchange of views with Egypt, which plays a major role for the stability of the region as a regional power, referring to his previous visit to Egypt in 2003 as State Minister for Foreign Affairs. In response, Minister Shoukry welcomed Minister Motegi’s visit, stating that he would like to further develop partnership with Japan, traditionally friendly country to Egypt.
- Minister Motegi stressed his determination to further strengthen the cooperation in various fields, introducing Japan’s efforts to support Egypt for the fight against COVID-19 through providing totaling more than 20 million USD: providing medical equipment and assistance to cold-chain medical supply, as well as ongoing projects such as Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) and Egypt Japan Education Partnership (EJEP). On top of that, Minister Motegi called for deepening communication through establishing a bilateral consultation among relevant parties regarding cooperation for the stability and prosperity of the region from the Suez Canal to the Red Sea, in order to realize a free and open international order based on the rule of law. In response, Minister Shoukry expressed his gratitude for the support extended from Japan. Minister Shoukry also expressed his support for the bilateral consultation and his willingness to move discussions between both countries forward including the cooperation on the Suez Canal, stressing the importance of an international order based on the rule of law.
- The two ministers also exchanged views on the situations in Middle East, such as Middle East Peace Process, Iraq, Libya as well as on the cooperation towards TICAD8 scheduled in 2022 in Tunisia. In particular, Minister Motegi highly commended the efforts of Egypt for playing a leading role in the Middle East Peace Process. They also exchanged views on the situation in China and North Korea, among others, and Minister Motegi, in this context, requested understanding and cooperation for the early resolution of the abductions issue, and gained support of Minister Shoukry.