Press Releases
Japan-Egypt Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue
On October 5, commencing at 6:20 p.m. for approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes, Mr. Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs, held a Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue with H.E. Mr. Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt, who is visiting Japan. The overview of the meeting is as follows.
1. Minister Kono welcomed the visit to Japan by Minister Shoukry, and stated the following in regard to Japan-Egypt relations and cooperation in the international arena.
(1) Egypt is an essential partner as Japan promotes Middle East diplomacy, and Minister Kono highly evaluates the role Egypt plays for regional stability.
(2) Through cooperation with Egypt, Minister Kono welcomes that 35 schools have been opened with Japanese-style elementary education. In addition, he would like to invite His Eminence Prof. Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar to have a discussion regarding countermeasures against violent extremism and education.
(3) Egypt will chair the African Union next year. Minister Kono would like to promote Japan-Africa cooperation with Egypt in various fields toward the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial Meeting the following day, and the TICAD Summit Meeting next year. He would also like to request the attendance by H.E. Mr. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, at TICAD7 to be held in August 2019 in Yokohama.
(4) Minister Kono would like to continue to cooperate in the international arena on fields including Security Council reform and disarmament and nonproliferation.
2. In response, Minister Shoukry stated the following while explaining the recent security situation in Egypt and economic reform.
(1) Based on the longstanding friendly relations between Japan and Egypt, Minister Shoukry would like to further develop bilateral relations through the Strategic Dialogue. Dialogues regarding international issues of interest to both countries are important.
(2) Minister Shoukry expects that the number of Japanese tourists to Egypt will rise and trade investment will expand.
(3) Minister Shoukry is grateful for Japan’s support for fostering human resources and economic reform in Egypt, including in the field of education. He is also grateful for Japan’s support for the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is aimed to open in 2020. President El-Sisi also highly evaluates Japan’s support, and places importance on friendly cooperation with Japan.
3. Following that, both ministers held a frank exchange of views regarding the situation of the Middle East and Africa, including the Middle East peace process, Libya, and the Syria situation.
In addition, both ministers held an exchange of views regarding the North Korea situation, and confirmed the importance of continuing to achieve the full implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions towards the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.