Press Releases
Visit of Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs ERI to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Results)
From February 13th to 14th, Ms. ERI Arfiya, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, visited the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia especially with a view to holding bilateral meetings with African countries, seizing the opportunity of the Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU). The overview is as follows.
1. Bilateral meetings with Ministers of African countries and representatives of African-based organizations
Meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism of Seychelles
Meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique
(1) Ms. ERI held series of bilateral meetings with the following Ministers and representatives of African-based organizations, on the sidelines of the Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU as well as the AU Executive Council in Addis Ababa.
- H.E. Mr. Louis Sylvestre RADEGONDE, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism of the Republic of Seychelles
- H.E. Ms. Maria Manuela dos Santos Lucas, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Republic of Mozambique
- Hon. Dr. Phenyo BUTALE, Minister of International Relations of the Republic of Botswana
- H.E. Mr. MESGANU Arga Moach, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
- H.E. Mrs. Miryan Djamila SENA VIEIRA, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation of the Republic of Cabo Verde
- H.E. Mr. Ahmed Moallim FIQI, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Federal Republic of Somalia
- H.E. Mr. Sam Okudzeto ABLAKWA, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Ghana
- Ms. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD）
- H.E. Mr. Claver Gatete, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)
(2) During the bilateral meetings with African foreign Ministers, Ms. ERI requested the participation of their Heads of state in TICAD 9 to be held in Yokohama in August this year, and also confirmed importance of cooperation toward TICAD 9 and the strengthening of bilateral relations with each country. They also exchanged views on African-led initiatives for peace in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the regional situation including that in the Horn of Africa, and cooperation in the international arena such as UN Security Council reform, and shared the same view to continue strengthening bilateral, regional and international cooperation.
Meeting with the State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia
Meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ghana
Meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Somalia
Meeting with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation of Cabo Verde
Meeting with the Minister of International Relations of Botswana
Meeting with the Chief Executive Officer of the AUDA-NEPAD
Meeting with the Executive Secretary of the UNECA
(3) Ms. ERI also discussed with representatives of international and regional organizations based in Africa such as the Chief Executive Officer of the AUDA-NEPAD and the Executive Secretary the UNECA, and exchanged views, toward TICAD 9, on initiatives to realize Agenda 2063, the long-term development vision set by the AU.
(4) In addition to the above, Ms. ERI had a meeting with H.E. Mr. Mohamed Abdi Hayir MAREYE, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E. Ms. Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, Commissioner of the African Union Commission (AUC), and Mr. Quentin Wodon, Director of the UNESCO-IICBA (International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa).
2. Visit to an Ethiopian company and the TICAD Human Resource Development Center for Business and Industry
Visit to Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia Plc
Visit to the TICAD Human Resource Development Center for Business and Industry
On 13th, Ms. ERI visited Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia Plc, in which a Japanese company invests in part, and the TICAD Human Resource Development Center for Business and Industry, which has been implementing the Japanese KAIZEN concept. Ms. ERI was briefed on their respective initiatives.
3. Exchange of views with the ABE Initiative (African Business Education Initiative for Youth) graduates
On 13th, Ms. ERI exchanged views with ABE Initiative graduates. The graduates explained to Ms. ERI their activities after returning to Ethiopia. Ms. ERI expressed her hope that the graduates would continue to contribute to the strengthening of Japan-Africa relations by playing a role as bridge between Japanese and African business.
Note: The ABE Initiative is a program that Japan announced at the 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) in 2013, with the aim of fostering industrial human resources in Africa and developing human resources to serve as a bridge between Japanese and African business. The program provides African youth with opportunities to obtain master's degrees at Japanese universities, as well as business programs such as internships at Japanese companies, Japanese language training, business skills training, etc. In addition, since 2016, through the Association for Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnerships (AOTS), the program has been providing trainings for future on-site leaders such as foremen and factory supervisors.