Countries & Regions

On June 2, for about 25 minutes from 3:10pm, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a meeting with H.E. Mr. Hifikepunye Pohamba, President of the Republic of Namibia, in Yokohama, Japan. The following is the gist of the meeting. President Pohamba is visiting Japan to participate in the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) held from June 1 to June 3.

1. At the beginning of the meeting, Prime Minister Abe welcomed President Pohamba’s fourth visit all the way to Japan, following the participation last time, and expressed his intention to cooperate with President Pohamba to bring TICAD which marks the twentieth anniversary to a success, hoping for development both in Africa and Japan. In response, President Pohamba expressed his gratitude for Japan’s support in Namibia’s national development plan, as well as his sincere gratitude to H.M. Emperor of Japan for having bestowed the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun to Dr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, Speaker of the National Assembly.
2. President Pohamba said that Namibia was rich in mineral resources which had yet to be explored, and expressed his expectation for the participation of Japanese companies into such areas as tourism, agro-manufacturing, logistics, and mining in Namibia. President Pohamba also expressed his wish for Prime Minister Abe to visit Namibia at an early opportunity.
3. Prime Minister Abe expressed his gratitude for the invitation to Namibia, and his congratulations to Dr. Gurirab, Speaker of the Nation Assembly. Prime Minister Abe conveyed his expectation for improvement of investment environment in Namibia to encourage Japanese companies to expand their business into Namibia, which has abundant resources with geographic advantage. Prime Minister Abe also stated that Japan had decided to support the establishment of a master plan for establishing a logistics hub function, which will enable Namibia to take up the growth of wide southern African region. Prime Minister Abe further stated that Japan also decided to support the establishment of a master plan for agricultural development in northern Namibia, and he expected that, together with the cooperation already taken place, it would contribute to improve the living standard of farmers in northern Namibia.
4. Two leaders exchanged their opinions concerning cooperation in the international arena, including the development in Africa.