Japan’s Cabinet’s Minister Kicks off 2-Day Visit to Egypt

Akira Sato, state minister of the Japanese Cabinet Office, has shortly arrived in Cairo International Airport in a two-day official visit, during which, he is scheduled to go to Sharm El-Sheikh resort city.

Well-informed sources said that the Japanese senior official was on Emirates airlines flight coming from Dubai and he was received at the airport’s VIP lounge.

The sources added that the Japanese Minister is set to leave for Sharm El-Sheikh during the coming few hours. He will be received there by the deputy Japanese’s ambassador to Cairo.

"The Egyptian-Japanese relations witnessed a great momentum in the last period. In March, Cairo hosted the 11th meeting of the Egyptian-Japanese Joint Business Council and the Egyptian-Japanese Investment Forum with the participation of a large number of Japanese officials and businessmen," it said.

The government is keen to promote economic, trade, industrial and investment relations between Egypt and Japan during the next phase and work on transferring the Japanese expertise to Egypt, especially in the industrial fields and the advanced technological sectors.

Trade Exchange between Egypt and Japan marked an increase of 30.5 percent during 2018, recording $1.26 billion, compared to $969 million in 2017, according to Egypt's Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The most important Egyptian exports to Japan were oil, ready-made garments, carpets and cotton, while cars, tractors, machinery, electrical appliances, iron and steel, plastic and its products were the most important Egyptian imports from Japan.

It is noteworthy that President Abdel Fattah El Sisi expressed his sincere appreciation to the people and the Government of Japan for hosting the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7) scheduled for August 28-30.

He also lauded  the organizers of this important meeting, in particular the African Union (AU) Commission, the World Bank and  the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa.

It is expected that this summit will witness a distinguished African representation. About 40 African countries will take part in this event including: Egypt, Cameron, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Chad, South Africa, Algeria and others.

TICAD is considered one of the most important summits and gatherings that contribute to the development of the African continent.