Countries & Regions

On June 3, for 25 minutes from 8:40 a.m., Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida had a meeting with H.E. Mr. Raymond Tshibanda N’Tungammulong, Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Francophonie of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in Yokohama Japan. The following is the gist of the meeting. Foreign Minister Tshibanda is visiting Japan to participate in the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) held from June 1 to 3.

1. At the beginning of the meeting, Foreign Minister Kishida welcomed Mr. Tshibanda’s visit to Japan and expressed his hope for developing the relation both between Africa and Japan and between DRC and Japan on the occasion of the TICAD V, which marks the 20th anniversary of the TICAD process. In response, Foreign Minister Tshibanda expressed his sincere appreciation for Japan’s support for Africa and for the DRC.
2. Foreign Minister Kishida said that Japan highly appreciated Minister Tshibanda’s effort toward the stabilization of the eastern part of the DRC and that Japan is implementing around 40 million dollars in humanitarian aid from the perspective of encouraging the efforts conducted by all parties involved for stabilization of the region. Foreign Minister Kishida also conveyed a message that Japan has newly decided to provide non-project grant aid for socioeconomic development of the DRC and to conduct preparatory survey on the maintenance of the Matadi Bridge, a symbol of the friendship between the two countries. Furthermore Foreign Minister Kishida stated that Japanese has a great interest in the DRC, and expressed his intention to promote bilateral economic relations together and his expectation for the ongoing effort for the improvement of investment climate.
3. In response, Foreign Minister Tshibanda showed a willingness to steadily implement the commitments under the framework of regional cooperation agreed among the United Nations, the African Union and neighboring countries toward stabilizing the eastern part of the DRC. Minister Tshibanda extended his appreciation for Japan’s effective assistance, including the assistance for reform of police, and expressed his expectation for increasing investment from Japanese companies toward the DRC, which is endowed with abundant natural resources.
4. In addition, they exchanged opinions concerning cooperation in the international arena including the development of Africa.