[Title] Joint Press Conference at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9)

[Opening statement by Prime Minister ISHIBA Shigeru]

I am extremely gratified that TICAD 9, the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, has once again drawn to a successful conclusion in Yokohama.

I wish to express my deep appreciation to President Lourenço of the Republic of Angola, who co-chaired this Conference, as well as the delegations of participating countries who traveled all the way from Africa for this meeting, representatives of international organizations and of the TICAD co-organizers, participants from our host city Yokohama and private enterprises, and everyone who worked together for the success of TICAD 9. I am also sincerely grateful to former Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio for serving as Acting Co-chair of this Conference. Thank you all very much indeed. In particular, President Lourenço and I exchanged views on numerous occasions the past three days, and last night we had dinner together, further deepening our rapport.

While TICAD was underway, not only did we hold plenary sessions, which the leaders of the participating countries attended, but also we had over 200 seminars taking place as a new initiative. More than 200 of these sideline events were held, counting both symposia and seminars. Thematic events were also organized, with 300 exhibition booths running alongside various panel exhibitions.

Through these, a tremendous number of people were engaged in active discussions about African development and future cooperation. I had the opportunity to visit a number of exhibition booths myself yesterday for a short time. As the saying goes, "Seeing is believing," and by seeing various presentations and so on for myself, I became very keenly aware of Africa's dynamism and potential as well as the boundless prospects for cooperation between Japan and Africa.

I held bilateral meetings with 34 leaders. I feel that through such opportunities, by coming to know the needs specific to individual countries and by learning from each other, we were able to identify paths towards further strengthening our relations into the future. In this way, TICAD 9 has been a venue for extremely meaningful exchanges of views. While the time allocated to each bilateral meeting was not very long, I recognize that such a format enabled us to have very concentrated discussions.

TICAD 9 took up the theme of "Co-create innovative solutions." We had particularly in-depth discussions on ways to amalgamate Japan's technologies and expertise and solutions locally developed in Africa in order to generate solutions to the issues facing Africa and the international community. The outcomes were compiled into and then adopted as the TICAD 9 Yokohama Declaration, about which you were provided an overview earlier. Centering on the three pillars of economy, society, and peace and stability, our Conference focused on public-private cooperation, empowering youth and women, and regional integration and connectivity.

In the future, Japan will accelerate its efforts in seven areas. The first of these is boosting investment in Africa by Japanese companies; the second is promoting the mobilization of private capital. These two areas will enable the realization of profits simultaneously with the resolution of social issues. The third area is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation (DX), and other means of resolving issues alongside a strengthening of industrial cooperation, including by bolstering the resiliency of mineral resource supply chains. The fourth is enhancing connectivity within and beyond the African region through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the Economic Region Initiative of Indian Ocean-Africa. The fifth is enhancing policies in the field of health, and the sixth is human resource development and exchange across a wide range of fields, with a focus on youth and women. The seventh and final area is advancing efforts that promote Africa's peace and stability.

We have turned to a new page in the TICAD process, namely, one of co-creation, whereby we work together to devise solutions to challenges. Prompted by TICAD 9, Japan will harness these efforts to be even more engaged in expanding its investment in Africa's future, strengthening industrial cooperation, and developing Africa's human resources.

We are now three decades into the TICAD process. More than 30 years have passed since TICAD's inception in 1993. As I stated in my closing remarks at the Conference, the international community is now changing dramatically, and with the adoption of Agenda 2063, a development vision Africa itself formulated, regional integration has been progressing and Africa's role in the international community is increasingly important. TICAD has also continued to evolve as a platform for discussing Africa's prosperity and future and as a venue fostering mutual friendship and trust, responding all the while to changes in the times and other developments.

I understand that TICAD's origins are in supporting Africa's development and economic growth, grounded in the fundamental principles of African ownership and international partnership. As the international community faces multifaceted crises, Japan will work to continually improve the TICAD process. We will faithfully uphold the TICAD principles and take into account the voices of you, the participants in the TICAD process, with the aims of responding to further changes and challenges facing Africa and the international community as a whole and continuing to together build the future we desire. We aspire to raise cooperation between Japan and Africa to a new dimension. I very much look forward to the opportunity to meet and connect with you all again, taking that as our goal. Thank you very much.