Meeting between Minister for Foreign Affairs IWAYA and Chief Minister SENGEH of Sierra Leone

On August 21, commencing at 10:40 a.m. for approximately 15 minutes, Mr. IWAYA Takeshi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, held a meeting with Dr. David Moinina SENGEH, Chief Minister of the Republic of Sierra Leone, who is visiting Japan to participate in the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9). The overview of the meeting is as follows:

1. At the outset, Minister IWAYA expressed his respect for Sierra Leone, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, and stated his desire to further strengthen cooperation with Sierra Leone, which assumed the chairmanship of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) this June, for regional peace and stability. In response, Chief Minister Sengeh expressed his high appreciation for Japan’s efforts in TICAD to date and his desire to further strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation in the international arena.
    
2. Following that, Minister IWAYA stated Japan’s intention to contribute to strengthening Sierra Leone’s food security and to enhance economic relations with Sierra Leone, which boasts natural good ports and abundant mineral resources. In response, Chief Minister Sengeh expressed his gratitude for Japan’s continued support and stated his desire to continue close cooperation between the two countries in promoting further investment by Japanese companies in fields such as minerals and agriculture, in expanding people-to-people exchanges, and in contributing to peace and stability in the region and the international community.
    
3. The both sides also concurred in further strengthening cooperation in responding to various regional and international challenges, such as policies towards North Korea including the nuclear and missile issues as well as the abductions issue, and the United Nations Security Council reform.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.