The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Mr HAYASHI Yoshimasa, who is visiting Tunisia to attend the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8), held a Foreign Ministers’ meeting with H.E. Mrs Shirley Ayorkor BOTCHWEY， Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of the Republic of Ghana. The overview of the meeting is as follows.
At the outset, Minister Hayashi expressed his gratitude to Minister Botchwey for her participation in TICAD 8 same as the previous edition. Minister Hayashi expressed his hope for the development of an investment environment to deepen economic relations and stated that Japan intends to cooperate in the areas such as health and transportation infrastructure. In response, Minister Botchwey expressed her condolences to former Prime Minister Abe, and Minister Hayashi expressed his gratitude. Minister Botchwey then mentioned the major role played by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in the fight against COVID-19 and expressed her appreciation for Japan’s longstanding support to Ghana. Both sides confirmed to work for further development of bilateral relations, including further promotion of Japanese investment and human resource development in Ghana.
Minister Hayashi then stated that it is essential for the international community to cooperate in its response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and that Japan intends to continue contributing to strengthening food security in Africa. Minister Botchwey stated that Africa’s food security vulnerabilities have already begun to materialize in the form of price hikes and that she appreciates the support from Japan. Minister Hayashi also raised the importance of transparency and fairness of development finance and the two sides confirmed cooperation with each other.
Furthermore, the two sides shared the view to continue to work together in responding to regional and international issues, such as North Korea, including the nuclear, missile, and abductions issues and strengthening the functions of the United Nations as a whole, including the Security Council reform. They also confirmed coordination to maintain and strengthen the NPT regime following the recent NPT Review Conference.
