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On June 2, for 15 minutes from 4:30pm, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida had a meeting with Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer of NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) Planning and Coordinating Agency, in Yokohama. The following is the gist of the meeting. Dr. Mayaki is visiting Japan to participate in the 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) held from June 1 to June 3.

1. At the beginning, Foreign Minister Kishida showed his appreciation for Dr. Mayaki’s contribution to the TICAD V. Minister Kishida also stated that Japan has a policy to continue supporting continent-wide development initiatives promoted by NEPAD, and that policy is fully reflected in the declaration and action plan of the TICAD V. In response, Dr. Mayaki stated that TICAD has hosted high-quality dialogue from the preparatory stages, and that Japan’s assistance measures are also completely consistent with NEPAD’s priority agendas. Dr. Mayaki added that from now on, NEPAD - as the agency that implements continent-wide development initiatives - would join hands with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and other organizations to do its best toward high-quality development.
2. Foreign Minister Kishida mentioned infrastructure as one of the most important continent-wide initiatives for Japan, and expressed his expectation for the role of NEPAD in implementing region-wide infrastructure projects such as PIDA (Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa). In terms of agriculture sector, Minister Kishida expressed Japan’s wishes to contribute to NEPAD’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and other programs, taking advantage of Japan’s long-years of experience in its agriculture sector in Africa. In response, Dr. Mayaki mentioned Japan’s past assistance such as to improvement of corridors and One Stop Border Posts, and expressed his desire to further strengthen ties with Japan in promoting continent-level development initiatives, and stressed the importance of cooperation between the private and public sectors in order to increase the involvement of the private sector.