Countries & Regions

Today on June 2, for about 15 minutes from 1:30 pm, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a meeting with H.E. Mr. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, in Yokohama, Japan. The following is the gist of the meeting. President Kagame is visiting Japan to participate in the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) currently held from June 1 to June 3.

1. At the beginning of the meeting, Prime Minister Abe stated that he was pleased to meet President Kagame for the first time in seven years, and expressed his gratitude for the President’s visit to Japan and the participation to the TICAD V. Prime Minister Abe added that he would like to work with the President Kagame for the success of the TICAD, which celebrates its twentieth anniversary, for development both in Africa and Japan. In response, President Kagame expressed his delight at the reunion with a pleasant memory of the meeting with Prime Minister Abe during his visit to Japan in 2006 and expressed his gratitude for the holding of this conference, TICAD which sheds light on Africa and for Japan’s commitment and support to Africa.
2. President Kagame went on to reiterate his appreciation for Japan’s development assistance as it had contributed to the acceleration of the Rwanda’s development and expected Japan’s continued support. The President also expressed his intention to develop the bilateral cooperation not only in the sense of traditional development assistance, but also in promoting trade and investment as well as exchange between peoples. President Kagame further expressed his expectation for Prime Minister Abe’s visit to Rwanda.
3. Prime Minister Abe expressed his gratitude for the invitation and expressed his wish to further strengthen the bilateral relationship, as the foundations for bilateral cooperation has been improving such as the opening of the Japanese Embassy in the Republic of Rwanda and the establishment of the Japan-Rwanda Parliamentary League of Friendship. Prime Minister Abe stated that, as the stability in the eastern part of Democratic Republic of Congo is an important factor for the promotion of trade and investment with Rwanda, Japan would continue to pay close attention to the situation in the region, while appreciating efforts made by the neighboring countries. Furthermore, Prime Minister Abe stated that Japan would continue to provide assistance for economic and social development in Rwanda through various means such as the new non-project grant aid which Japan has recently decided to provide.
4. In addition, the leaders also exchanged views on cooperation in the international arena, including the development in Africa.