Dr. Tedros meets with Japan's Foreign Minister

Addis Ababa, March 18 (WIC) - Dr. Tedros Adhanhom met with Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday on the sidelines of the fifth annual TICAD Ministerial preparatory meeting.

Dr. Tedros began the meeting by expressing his happiness for the successful conduct of the TICAD meetings and pledged Ethiopia's continued support for upcoming TICAD meetings including the TICAD Heads of State meeting set to be held, June 3 2013 in Tokyo.

He said that "Japan's strong commitment to the African continent has made a pivotal contribution to the success of the meetings".

He continued by highlighting that in spite of a global recession, and the nuclear accident it sustained Japan has exhibited its firm commitment to the Ethiopian people by boosting the amount of ODA it provides to the country.

Kishada thanked Ethiopia for successfully hosting the meeting and expressed Japan's desire to further deepen its relations with Ethiopia.

He added, "Japan wants to work with Ethiopia on regional matters" as his country values the positive role that it plays in the Horn of Africa".

Dr. Tedros also briefed his Japanese counterpart on the promising developments in both Somalia and the Sudans.

He assured the Minister that Ethiopia would continue to support the priorities of the Government of Somalia while emphasizing Ethiopia's desire to aid the process of implementing the recently agreed security arrangements between Sudan and South Sudan.

Kishada affirmed the government of Japan's commitment to facilitating greater Japanese investment in Ethiopia and pledged government support for the Ethiopian investment seminar set to be held on the margins of the TICAD Heads of State meeting in June. (MoFA)