Japan Opens Up to Zimbabwe

President Mugabe is welcomed by Japanese Prime Minister Mr Shinzo Abe for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Fifth Tokyo International Conference for African Development which opened June 1, 2013., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Japan opens up to Zim

Sunday, 02 June 2013 00:00
Lovemore Chikova in YOKOHAMA, Japan
Zimbabwe Sunday Mail

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday disclosed that his country wants to restore normal relations with Zimbabwe, this coming after several other countries, including the US and Britain,recently warmed up to President Mugabe as they sought to improve their own relations with the country.

The Japanese Premier told President Mugabe during a closed door meeting on the sidelines of the three-day 5th Tokyo International Conference for African Development being held here that his country is interested in investing in the country’s agricultural sector.

“Mr Abe told the President that there is need to normalise relations between the two countries,” said sources who attended the meeting.

“He said they wanted to assist Zimbabwe through supporting agriculture, the industrialisation process and technological advancement.”

The sources said Mr Abe promised to help Zimbabwe with food through the World Food Programme.

President Mugabe pointed out during the meeting that relations between Zimbabwe and Japan had suddenly thawed without an explanation despite that they were at their best in the 1980s.

“In 1980, one of the first countries we visited after our independence was Japan,” he said. “We discussed our own situation at that time and what it required then.”

Japan shifted its policy on Zimbabwe after western countries imposed sanctions on the country and appeared to go along with that unfair treatment of the Southern African country.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said in an interview after the meeting between President Mugabe and Prime Minister Abe that relations between the two countries were discussed.

“It is true that over the past years relations between Zimbabwe and Japan were lukewarm, but we are seeing signs they are warming up,” he said.

“They have sent a number of delegations to Zimbabwe and the Japanese International Co-operation Agency has been to the country to look at possible programmes.”

Minister Mumbengegwi said the relations were expected to return to the 1980s levels in five years.

He said the foreign affairs ministers’ conference held as a precursor to the main TICAD conference drafted the Yokohama Declaration 2003 and the Yokohama Action Plan 2013-2017.

The two documents were expected to be adopted at the end of the conference tomorrow (Monday).

“The declaration analyses the importance of TICAD as an instrument of co-operation between Africa and Japan,” he said.

“Until about the fourth TICAD conference in 2008, most of the co-operation between Japan and African countries was government to government.

“A lot of emphasis is now being put on private partnership and this should make a lot of difference, especially when it concentrates on infrastructure development.”

Minister Mumbengegwi said the declaration also contains plans on education, health and climate change.

The TICAD conference, which is being attended by several African leaders, is being hosted by the Japanese government.
It started on Friday and is expected to end tomorrow.