Japanese Foreign Minister (FM) Toshimitsu Motegi is wrapping up his 10-day tour of Latin America and Africa today. Between January 4 to 14, the diplomat visited Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Senegal, and Kenya. This comes only a month after he concluded his trip to Tunisia, Mozambique, South Africa and Mauritius, where he held discussions on “realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific” and the strengthening of business ties post the coronavirus pandemic.
Mexico
On January 4, Motegi held a one-hour meeting with Secretary of Economy Tatiana Clouthier Carrillo. Following this, the minister met with Foreign Secretary Marcelo Luis Ebrard. During these meetings, Mexico affirmed that, during its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, the country hopes to work in close cooperation with Japan on several issues like climate change and matters related to North Korea.
Further, the Japanese diplomat highlighted the need for international cooperation to contain the coronavirus pandemic and pledged medical equipment worth $5.7 million to Mexico. Motegi and Ebrard also committed to collaborating in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to promote free trade. Further, they also confirmed that, as chair countries of the TPP for 2020 and 2021, Japan and Mexico would continue to work together for the steady implementation and expansion of TPP11. In addition, Motegi also called for improvement and stabilization in the business environment in Mexico and requested support for Japanese companies operating in Mexico.
Argentina
On January 6, Motegi and his Argentine counterpart, Felipe Solá, agreed to further strengthen economic ties. Motegi said that bilateral economic relations between the two “are expanding” and also noted that the “number of Japanese-affiliated companies has doubled in the past four years.” The ministers also agreed to “bolster” the business environment by signing a tax treaty to avoid double taxation.
Brazil
On January 8, Motegi met with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. During the meeting, the two agreed “to strengthen business ties and coordinate in promoting free and open international order based on the rule of law”. Bolsonaro also supported Tokyo’s plans to host the postponed Olympics and Paralympics in the summer of 2021; Brazil hosted the previous Summer Games in 2016. In a separate meeting with his Brazilian counterpart Ernest Araujo the two agreed to extend cooperation in the fields of “digital economy and environmental protection”, and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on protecting the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest.
Paraguay
On January 9, Motegi met with his Paraguayan counterpart Federico Gonzalez in Asuncion and committed to “extend loans of 9.29 billion yen to Paraguay to help build a stable and effective electricity supply system”. “I hope this kind of cooperation will help improve Paraguay’s investment environment,” he told an online joint press conference following the meet. During his stay, Motegi also met with Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez to discuss issues of mutual importance.
Senegal
On January 11, Motegi visited Senegal and met with Aissata Tall Sall, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad. In the meeting, Motegi stated that “Japan is making efforts for achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Africa” and that it will “continue to support the fight against COVID-19 by Senegal as a role model in promoting UHC.”
On his second day in the country, the minister held the Japan-Senegal Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and also met with the country’s President, Macky Sall. Motegi spoke about the vision of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” and the two sides agreed “to cooperate on enhancing connectivity and building quality infrastructure under this vision.” Further, Senegal and Japan also agreed “to cooperate in preparation” for the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8) that will be held in Tunisia in 2022.
Kenya
On January 13, Motegi held a Japan-Kenya Foreign Ministers’ Meeting with Ambassador Raychelle Awuor Omamo, the Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya. The two ministers last met in October 2020. During this latest meeting, Motegi expressed Japan’s interest in creating a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”, strengthening its international business relations once the COVID19 pandemic was under control, and working with partners to collaborate for the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), wherein Japan “would strongly support African-led development”.
Motegi also stated that depending on how the pandemic unfolds, Japan “intended to hold the Third Japan-Kenya Business Dialogue to support the activities of Japanese companies in Kenya” and expressed hope that the Kenyan government “would undertake measures to improve [the] business environment.”
In his meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta, Motegi highlighted the importance of the development of the Mombasa port “as a good example of quality infrastructure development”. Further, he expressed hope “to cooperate to improve infrastructure around the Mombasa Port area and basic infrastructure in the Mombasa Special Economic Zone.”
Motegi also met with Ambassador Dr Amina Mohamed, the Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Heritage. During the meeting, the ambassador expressed his desire “to cooperate with Japan for the successful Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games including in training, sports medicine, and host town exchanges.”
Nigeria
Motegi’s was also expected to take a trip to Nigeria, but the visit was cancelled. However, he did hold a telephone conversation with Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigeria’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, during which he expressed his hope “to further promote bilateral cooperation in various areas such as Nigeria’s fight against COVID-19, development cooperation and strengthening business relations” with the African nation, with whom Japan just celebrated the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
The Foreign Minister returned to Japan on Thursday.