On 1st December 2023, H.E. Ambassador Baraka Luvanda, joined other twelve (12) SADC Ambassadors and Heads of Missions in Tokyo in paying a courtesy visit to Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) at the Ministry’s Headquarters.
On behalf of the Group, H.E. Mr. José Maria da Silva Vieira de MORAIS, Ambassador of the Republic of Mozambique to Japan and Dean of the SADC Diplomatic Missions to Japan congratulated Minister Kamikawa on her appointment as Minister for Foreign Affairs. He expressed his appreciation for the role that Japan plays in the development of Southern Africa and expressed his desire to continue to strengthen relations between Japan and Southern African countries through increased trade and investment from Japan and enhanced human resource development.
Participating Ambassadors also expressed their commitment to strengthening the economic and bilateral relations between the Southern African region and Japan.
In her remarks, Minister KAMIKAWA expressed her appreciation to the Group for their daily efforts to strengthen relations with Japan. She stated that Japan and SADC countries are important partners in tackling various challenges together, and that she would like to further develop this relationship in various areas including, in the economic area based on the longstanding trust from each other.
Minister Kamikawa further expressed her desire to continue with such dialogue with Ambassadors and to work more closely with related organizations such as JICA and Keidanren in areas such as human resource development, rule of law, and water issues in both bilateral and multilateral contexts. She also stated that she was looking forward to the participation of African countries in the TICAD Ministerial Meeting to be held in Tokyo in 2024 and to the TICAD 9 Summit to be held in Yokohama in 2025.
