Ambassador of Japan in Cairo Oka Hiroshi said the visit by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Egypt on Sunday was a historic milestone in traditional friendship.
“Prime Minister Kishida’s visit to Egypt is his first visit to the Middle East and Africa as Prime Minister, and his first visit since 2008 as Minister of Science and Technology,” he said.
“President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Prime Minister Kishida formally agreed to upgrade the bilateral relations to strategic partnership,” he added.
Ambassador Oka said that building on the mutual recognition of the significant benefits that the broad ranged cooperation between the two countries have produced for the benefits of the two peoples, the two leaders expressed their keenness to advance the bilateral cooperation further, by upgrading the bilateral relations to strategic partnership.
“In addition to bilateral cooperation, the two leaders discussed, as the reliable strategic partners, regional issues of mutual interest, including the situations in Sudan, war in Ukraine and the Palestinian situations, and explored how the two counties can work together to address the situations,” Ambassador Oka told The Egyptian Gazette.
“Prime Minister Kishida is keen to reflect the voices he heard in Cairo in the discussion in the upcoming G7 meeting he steers in his capacity as chairperson of G7 (May 19 to 21),” Ambassador Oka said.
He also visited the League of Arab States for the first time as a Japanese Prime Minister to meet with the Secretary General to discuss latest developments in the Middle East and Africa, including Sudan, and to deliver a message to the Permanent Representatives of LAS, emphasising the importance of partnership between Japan and Arab countries.
“He agreed to hold the third round of the Japan-Arab Political Dialogue in September in Cairo,” the ambassador said.
Ambassador Oka added that another highlight of the visit was his visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). He was accompanied by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli and Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary General Mostafa Waziry.
“The Prime Minister was literally impressed and deeply moved by what he saw in GEM, which he described in his remarks to the press, as the symbol of cooperation between the two countries,” he said.
He also visited the site of the renovation work in progress for the Second Solar Boat.
“At the end of the visit to GEM, the prime minister said, building on the excellent work that Japanese and Egyptian experts have been doing for the precious artefact to be displayed at GEM, he looks forward to the opening of the Museum.”
GEM has started offering tours of specific areas from March 9, 2023. The tours are part of preparations for the opening of the museum, whose date has not been announced yet.
Bilateral cooperation between the two friendly countries to establish the GEM dates back to 2006.
Prime Ministers of Egypt and Japan attended Egypt-Japan Business Forum with the participation of more than 150 leading business people from both countries.
“Prime Minister Kishida expressed his eagerness to support Japanese Business development in Egypt, particularly through facilitating direct investment from Japan,” the ambassador said.
“The premier added that Japanese businesses are showing strong interest in Egypt, as the FDI from Japan to Egypt doubled last year.”
During the fiscal year 2021-2022, the value of Japanese investments in Egypt increased 98.7 per cent to reach $73.7 million, compared to $37.1 million in the previous year, according to official data.
“The premier said that Egypt holds huge potential in the light of its strategic location, abundance of young talent and huge size of market,” Ambassador Oka added.
Prime Minister Kishida was in Egypt on the first leg of his four-nation Africa tour. On Monday he left for Ghana, from where he will go on to Kenya and Mozambique.
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