Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty discussed with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa ways to advance bilateral relations and ceasefire efforts in the Gaza Strip.
This came during political talks held by the two ministers on the sidelines of their participation in a ministerial meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which is being held in the Japanese capital.
Foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said the Japanese minister was keen at the beginning of the meeting to congratulate Abdelatty on assuming office, expressing her country’s appreciation of the important role played by Egyptian diplomacy in the regional and international arenas.
Also, Kamikawa noted that this year coincides with the 70th anniversary of cooperation between Egypt and Japan, pointing out that her country clearly values this cooperation, which is reflected in Japan’s support for many development projects in Egypt, most notably the Grand Egyptian Museum.
She stressed that her country is interested in establishing peace and stability in all parts of the world, including the East Asian and Middle East regions. Also, she underlined that Japan attaches great importance to fostering cooperation with African countries, welcoming the participation of Abdelatty in the TICAD ministerial meeting and expressing hope that the gathering will witness rich discussions that will yield tangible results for a broader joint cooperation.
According to the spokesman, the top Egyptian diplomat voiced appreciation of the Japanese role in the regional and international arenas, highlighting the convergence of visions between the Egyptian and Japanese sides, especially with regard to respect for the rules of international law, international humanitarian law and other common humanitarian principles.
He also praised the cooperation between the two friendly countries over the past years, stressing the importance of elevating relations to the level of strategic partnership in all areas of cooperation without exception, and expressing the Egyptian side’s wish to build on this momentum to give a stronger impetus to economic and investment cooperation, the spokesman said.
He added that the minister spoke about the global economic conditions that have cast a shadow over developing countries, including Egypt, during the past few years and highlighted the economic challenges that Egypt is currently facing, including hosting nearly nine million refugees on its territory, which increases the burdens on its resources.
Speaking about the situation in the region, Kamikawa said that her country is following with great concern what is happening in Gaza and was keen to listen to Abdelatty’s assessment of the latest developments of the Egyptian-US-Qatari mediation efforts to achieve a ceasefire and release the hostages, expressing Japan’s wish to contribute effectively to post-war reconstruction efforts.
In this context, Abdelatty praised the existing tripartite cooperation mechanism grouping Egypt, Jordan and Japan in light of the trilateral efforts to engage in improving economic conditions and reconstruction efforts in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, especially in the fields of energy and electrical interconnection lines with Jordan and Iraq and enhancing exports in Palestine and elsewhere.
The spokesman pointed out that Abdelatty was keen to express Egypt’s hope that the TICAD ministerial meeting would yield tangible results that lead to enhancing the areas of existing cooperation between Japan and Africa and opening new horizons of cooperation.
At the end of the meeting, the two ministers agreed to maintain contacts and continue consultation and coordination regarding regional and international issues of mutual interest and urged for increased efforts to elevate relations between both countries to the level of strategic partnership.
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