President Zuma Attends Conference in Japan

President Jacob Zuma of the Republic of South Africa is directly addressing the problems in municipal delivery services plaguing the country. These issues have lead to mass strikes and social unrest., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

New Age, South Africa
National & Provincial
May 31 2013 4:30PM

Zuma attends conference in Japan

President Jacob Zuma arrived in Japan on Thursday to attend the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama, his office said.

Spokesman Mac Maharaj said Zuma would attend the conference from Saturday until Monday, and embark on an official working visit in that country from June 4.

"South Africa's participation in the upcoming TICAD meeting is premised on the AU's (African Union) strategic objective of ensuring that all global partnerships with Africa should support the African development priorities," said Maharaj in a statement.

Nearly 40 African leaders were expected to attend the event, which was first launched in 1993 to serve as a consultative forum for development assistance to Africa.

"At this summit, the African heads of state, Japan and the TICAD partners, will adopt the TICAD-V Declaration, as well as its five-year Action Plan," said Maharaj.

The action-plan was expected to guide co-operation between Africa and Japan from 2013 to 2017.

Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe would co-chair the six plenary sessions with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

-Sapa