Countries & Regions

On June 3, for about 20 minutes from 9:45 a.m., Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a meeting with H.E. Prof. Dioncounda Traoré, Interim President of the Republic of Mali, in Yokohama, Japan. The following is the gist of the meeting. Interim President Traoré 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 the first visit of Interim President Traoré all the way to Japan and his first participation in the TICAD and mentioned that Interim President Traoré’s participation enriched the discussions on peace and stability in the TICAD. In response, Interim President Traoré appreciated Prime Minister’s welcome and said that Japan’s continuing support for Mali during a crisis showed friendly relations between the two countries.
2. Interim President Traoré went on to explain that Mali is currently in the process of tackling the challenges to achieve territorial integrity and that its security situation has been improving thanks to the solidarity of the international community, and that constitutional order would be recovered with the election to be held. Interim President Traoré also expressed his gratitude for the Japan’s support which has been extended so far, and his expectation for further support for development in Mali, indicating that development is required to maintain peace in Mali.
3. Prime Minister Abe paid respect to the leadership of Interim President Traoré to achieve peace and stability and said that, as announced at the session meeting held on June 2, Japan will extend a one billion dollar aid for development and humanitarian assistance to the Sahel region in the next five years. Mentioning that Japan has been implementing a 38 million dollar humanitarian aid to Mali as well as a 6 million dollar aid to the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA), Prime Minister Abe stated that Japan will support Mali for its fight against terrorism based on the principle of territorial integrity. Prime Minister Abe also stated that an early recovery of constitutional order is essential including ensuring the steady implementation of a presidential election in order to attain long-term stability in Mali.
4. Two leaders exchanged opinions with respect to cooperation in international arena including development of Africa.