Japan-Ethiopia Foreign Ministerial Meeting

On Thursday, December 1, at 4:30 p.m., Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba had an approximately 2-hour foreign ministerial meeting and dinner with H.E. Mr. HAILEMARIAM Desalegn, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia during his visit to Japan as a guest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting and dinner were held at the Iikura Guesthouse, and the foreign ministers signed the Agreement of Technical Cooperation between Japan and Ethiopia. The overview of the ministerial meeting and dinner are as follows.

1. Foreign Minister Gemba opened the meeting by welcoming Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam to Japan and expressing his appreciation for the support that Japan received from the government and people of Ethiopia in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake. He also stated that he would like to take the opportunity of Deputy Minister Hailemariam’s visit Japan intends to further strengthen relations between the two countries based on this visit. Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam responded that Japan is a valuable partner for Ethiopia, and he highly praised Japan’s contributions to the development of Ethiopia and other countries in Africa through its promotion of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) process.
   
   
2. Bilateral relations
   (1) Foreign Minister Gemba stated that Japan intends to continue to provide assistance to Ethiopia in accordance with its development plans, and in particular, Japan will promote support for the development of agriculture and agricultural communities, as well as support for the development of industries, which will include the introduction and spread of Kaizen (improvements). Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam expressed his gratitude for the support that Japan has provided to date through the TICAD process. He commented that Japan’s Kaizen methods are important for advancing industrial development in Ethiopia, and added that he hopes for further support particularly in the area of infrastructure development.
   
   (2) Foreign Minister Gemba stated that Japan intends to promote trade and investment with Ethiopia while moving forward with joint initiatives between the public and private sectors, and both ministers affirmed that the countries will continue to cooperate with a view toward promoting the entry of Japanese enterprises into Ethiopia.
   
   
3. The foreign ministers also exchanged opinions concerning matters such as cooperation with regard to the regional situation in the Horn of Africa and the international arena.