Countries & Regions

On June 1, for about 20 minutes from 11:35am, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a meeting with Hon. William Arap Ruto, Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya, in Yokohama, Japan. The following is the gist of the meeting. Deputy President Ruto is visiting Japan to participate in the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) currently held from today (June 1) through June 3. 

 

1. At the beginning, Prime Minister Abe congratulated on the last election in Kenya which had been conducted in a peaceful and democratic manner, and expressed his intention to lead TICAD V to a success, hoping for development both in Africa and Japan. In response, Deputy President Ruto, thanking the welcome by the Prime Minister, mentioned that this year marks Kenya’s 50th anniversary of independence as well as the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Kenya and Japan. Deputy President Ruto mentioned that the friendly relations between the two countries have been smoothly developed over the period since Kenya’s independence. 

 

2. Deputy President Ruto went on to express his gratitude for Japan’s support for Kenya and said that he hopes to further strengthen the relationship between the two countries through the TICAD V.  He also showed his expectation for Japan’s continued cooperation for the expansion of the Port of Mombasa, development of road and railway networks, assistance for energy and electric power generation, and the safe and steady return of displaced Somali people.  

 

3. Prime Minister Abe congratulated on Kenya’s 50th anniversary of independence as well as the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Kenya and Japan. Both leaders confirmed the launch of a preparatory meeting for the start of negotiations on the bilateral investment agreement between Kenya and Japan. Prime Minister Abe went on to express his intention to continue to support efforts for economic growth in Kenya through infrastructure improvement and human resources development, and said to examine the requests made by the Deputy President today, from the perspective of supporting economic growth in Kenya. Prime Minister Abe also expressed his wish to accelerate consultations to commence the operations of Joint Crediting Mechanism.  

 

4. In addition, the two leaders exchanged views on cooperation in the international arena including the development of Africa.