Bangkok embassy, TICA back Japan meet on Africa
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The Japanese government will host the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) aimed at mobilising the wisdom and resources of all stakeholders interested in that continent's development.
The Japanese Embassy in Bangkok, in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA), is promoting the conference, to be held from Saturday to Monday in Yokohama. The conference will be chaired by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Kiminori Iwama, economic minister at the embassy in Bangkok, said Africa had been recognised as a potential investment partner for Japan. The conference is part of Japan’s new commitment towards African development. The conference, which is held every five years, is aimed at seeking a new dimension of public-private partnership for Africa.
He said the objectives of TICAD were to promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and their partners, and to mobilise support for African-owned development initiatives.
TICAD was hosted in Japan for the first time in 1993 as the Japanese government wanted to provide assistance to Africa. The goals were to promote human security in the continent as well as to support economic growth, including the improvement of infrastructure and capacity development.
TICAD has since evolved into a major global framework to facilitate the implementation of measures for promoting development under the dual principles of African ownership and international partnership.
“We expect delegates … from 54 African countries to participate in this year’s conference,” Iwama said.
“Japanese communities are very keen on African development. The African continent showed strong GDP growth at 5.8 per cent on average between 2002 and 2011. The economic growth in African countries has been driven by high population growth and the strong variety of natural resources, such as oil and minerals,” he said.
Iwama said that by receiving assistance from Japan and other international communities, both the public and private sectors, the development of the economy in Africa would in turn help stimulate the growth in other communities around the globe, as well as Japan itself.
“We want to extend private investments and trade cooperation with Africa as well as the improvement of the basic human condition, including public health,” he said.
Angsana Sihapitak, deputy director-general of TICA, said government assistance alone could not satisfy all the needs of African countries for their economic development and on other issues such as poverty and conflict. Therefore, participation of the private sector will be essential to mobilise and stimulate growth of those countries.
The last TICAD, held in 2008, attracted the participation of more than 3,000 people, representing 51 African countries, including 41 heads of state or government-level participants.
