Japan-Morocco Relations

On August 25, commencing at 10:20 a.m. for approximately 30 minutes, Mr. Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs, who is visiting Maputo (the Republic of Mozambique) to attend the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial Meeting, held a Japan-Morocco Foreign Ministers’ Meeting with Mr. Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Morocco. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. At the beginning, Minister Kono stated that the two countries are building an amicable relationship in various fields on the basis of the relationship between the Royal Family of Morocco and the Imperial Family of Japan, noted that the economic relationship is moving forward, including an approximately fourfold increase in the number of Japanese companies operating in Morocco over the past 10 years, which has created close to 40,000 jobs, and also explained that he hopes to further strengthen the economic relationship and intends to deepen cooperation on the political front. In response, Minister Bourita explained that he hopes to deepen cooperation in fields such as public safety, economy, culture and Africa, and build a strategic relationship between Japan and Morocco.
2. Following that, the two foreign ministers welcomed the recent major progress toward reaching an agreement in the bilateral investment agreement negotiations that began in July 2014, and shared the view that they will further accelerate the negotiations with the aim of reaching an agreement promptly.
3. Furthermore, Minister Bourita stated that TICAD is the most successful platform for African development, and explained that he hopes to deepen cooperation with Japan on African development through TICAD. 
4. In addition, they exchanged views on cooperating in the international arena, including United Nations Security Council reform, the North Korea situation and counterterrorism, and on regional affairs.