The following is the gist of a joint press conference held by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

<Assessment of TICAD>

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe: We successfully ended the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) by adopting the Yokohama Declaration. TICAD is open to any country. Japan continues to lead this framework with confidence.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi: TICAD gave us the opportunity to elevate the level of strategic partnership between Japan and African nations and to give concrete form to things of mutual benefit. I’m looking forward to further developing this partnership.

<Economic aid to Africa>

Prime Minister Abe: Africa is indeed the frontier of growth. We will emphasize the development of young human resources, the engine of growth.

President al-Sisi: What [African nations] want is infrastructure development and digitization. We will need help from our partners.

<China>

Prime Minister Abe: China is a key actor in the development of Africa. The G20 nations, including China, agreed that aid requires openness, transparency, economic efficiency and debt sustainability when their leaders met in June.

<Iran>

Prime Minister Abe: Japan will tirelessly work to ease tensions in the Middle East. I would like to have in-depth discussions with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani when I meet him at the United Nations General Assembly (in September). With regards to a maritime security vision, I would like to look into an effective way for Japanese engagement and examine diplomatic efforts we should make from a comprehensive perspective.