Japan encourages African leader, partners to attend TICAD

Addis Ababa, July 14 (WIC) - Japanese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ryuji Yamane encouraged the African leaders, AU Commission, international partners to participate in the upcoming fifth Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD V), the Japanese Embassy in Addis Ababa said.

The conference will be held in Yokohama, Japan from 1 to 3 June 2013, the according to the press statement of the Embassy sent to ENA on Friday.

It said a Senior Official and Ministerial Preparatory meetings will be held in Ouagadougou and in Addis Ababa in 2013 respectively. The Year 2013 has been named “TICAD V year”.

According to the statement, Japan has aimed to make TICD V an opportunity to bring the Japan-Africa relationship to a new level.

It noted, meaningful agreement was reached for TICAD V to further focus on the accelerated, inclusive and sustainable growth for Africa and to build robust society along with enhancing efforts for peace and stability.

Japan has consistently placed emphasis on and offered support for peace and stability in Africa.

Japan is overcoming last year’s unprecedented earth quake and tsunami and will continue to strongly promote active policies toward Africa. (ENA)