Top > Regional Affairs > Africa > Angola > Visit to Japan of His Excellency Mr. José Eduardo dos Santos, President of the Republic of Angola > Overview and Evaluation

The Visit to Japan of President José Eduardo dos Santos of the Republic of Angola
(Overview and Evaluation)


5 February 2001

1. Overview

(1) President José Eduardo dos Santos of the Republic of Angola paid an official working visit to Japan from 28 (Sun) to 1 (Thu) February, accompanied by Mrs. dos Santos and their son.

(2) During his stay President dos Santos had an audience with and attended a Court Luncheon hosted by Their Majesties The Emperor and Empress of Japan. President dos Santos had a summit meeting with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, and attended a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Mori and Mrs. Mori, and went to a reception hosted by the Japan-Angola Parliamentary Friendship League. In addition, President dos Santos received courtesy calls from Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Takeo Hiranuma, Mr. Kunihiko Saito, President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Mr. Satoru Anzaki, Chairman of the Committee on Sub-Saharan Africa, the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations. Moreover, President dos Santos visited automobile plants, companies involved with most advanced communications technology, and observed a demonstration of mine-clearing technology.

2. Evaluation

(1) The significance of the visit

  1. Angola has been enhancing relations with Japan through such means as establishing an embassy in Japan in November 2000 and posting Ambassador Lima there in 2000 as its first resident Ambassador to Japan. The visit to Japan of President dos Santos was conducted amid deepening Japan-Angola relations against such a background.
  2. Furthermore, this visit was opportune as it took place immediately after Prime Minister Mori's visit to sub-Saharan Africa (the Republic of South Africa, the Republic of Kenya, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria), as the first visit of an incumbent Japanese Prime Minister, where he declared Japan's African policies that offer "support for development" and "conflict prevention and refugee aid," as if they were two wheels of a cart.
  3. Visits to Japan by leading figures, in addition to President dos Santos, from far-reaching sectors, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Transport, Minister of Public Works and Urban Affairs, Minister of Commerce, Vice-Minister of Health, Vice-Minister of Planning, Governor of the National Bank of Angola, and Chairman of the Council of Administration of the Angolan National Oil Company, as well as various exchanges of views between them and Japanese government and public-sector officials are an expression of the Angolan side's enthusiasm to further deepen Japan-Angola relations.

(2) Japan-Angola relations

  1. In the Japan-Angola summit meeting, President dos Santos expressed his gratitude for Japanese assistance to Angola so far and requested a yen loan extension for assistance with infrastructure, in addition to humanitarian assistance.
  2. Responding to this, Prime Minister Mori announced cooperation presently planned for health and medical areas and noted that in the future he would like to consult with the Angolan side with respect to a yen loan. Furthermore, he called for an early political solution to the conflict in the country, which has been ongoing since Angola's independence, and expressed the hope that the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2002 would be conducted as scheduled.

(3) The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

  1. At the summit meeting, Prime Minister Mori stated that he was deeply concerned about the unstable situation in the DRC after the assassination of President Laurent Désiré Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is counting on the leadership of President dos Santos in order to stabilize the situation.
  2. In response to this, President dos Santos commented that he would exert efforts to see that domestic dialogue is promoted among parties concerned in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

(4) Others

President dos Santos contributed to deepening Japanese understanding of Angola by exchanging views with Japanese government and private-sector officials as well as responding enthusiastically to coverage (television and radio interviews) by the Japanese press. Furthermore, the Angolan press also kept their nation informed of the visit, covering it extensively on consecutive days, based on reports received from the journalists accompanying President dos Santos, which demonstrated the high level of interest in Japan from Angola.

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