Cairo, Tokyo keen on boosting relations at all levels
Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates, Badr Abdelaty met with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo yesterday during his visit to participate in the ministerial meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).
Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, spokesman of Egypt’s Foreign Ministry, said in a statement yesterday that Minister Abdelaty delivered a message from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, hailing Kishida’s role in boosting ties between the two countries to the level of strategic partnership.
El Sisi’s message touched on ways to strengthen bilateral relations between Cairo and Tokyo, as well as following up on cooperation to fulfill aspirations of the friendly Egyptian and Japanese peoples.
Abu Zeid said Minister Abdelaty voiced Egypt’s appreciation for Kishida’s successful visit to Caro last April, hailing Japan’s continued support to Egypt’s development projects, on top of which is the Grand Egyptian Museum and the partnership between the two countries in education.
Abdelaty expressed Egypt’s keenness to bolster cooperation by adding new areas of interest, i.e. artificial intelligence, governance,research, transfer of expertise, as well as promoting Egyptian tourism in Japan.
For his part, Kishida hailed President El Sisi’s leading role in various regional and international issues, noting that Egypt is Japan’s partner in the wake of Cairo’s key role in the Middle East region.
The minister also voiced Egypt’s keenness to advance economic and trade relations in line with stronger political ties., stressing the importance of increasing Japanese investments in Egypt, citing Cairo’s success in attracting investments despite the regional and global economic challenges.
Abdelaty stressed Egypt’s keenness to open new areas of joint economic cooperation, especially those related to climate change, voicing hope that Japanese companies will benefit from Egypt’s green hydrogen strategy, which was approved earlier this month.
Ambassador Abu Zeid said Japan’sprime minister was keen to listen to Minister Abdelaty’s assessment of top regional issues of common concern, most notably the ongoing war in Gaza.
According to Abu Zeid, Minister Abdelaty reviewed Egypt’s efforts on various tracks to resume negotiations to reach a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas as well as humanitarian aid to the brotherly Palestinian people, reiterating Cairo’s firm position rejecting escalation, assassinations, and violations of state sovereignty pursued by Israel.
JICA’s role in development projects
On the sidelines of his participation in TICAD, Minister Abdelaty also met with Akihiko Tanaka, President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Ambassador Abu Zeid said Abdelaty voiced Egypt’s great appreciation for JICA’s contribution to many vital development projects in Egypt, most notably the Grand Egyptian Museum, transportation and urban development sectors.
Abu Zeid said Minister Abdelaty and JICA’S president discussed a number of other areas of joint cooperation, including coordination for Egypt’s fourth Underground line, noting that Tanakavoiced JICA’s readiness to finance the project.
