Japan, Guinea-Bissau vow closer ties ahead of development conference
May 13, 2025 (Mainichi Japan)
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, right, and the president of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, shake hands ahead of their talks in Tokyo on May 12, 2025. (Kyodo)
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The leaders of Japan and Guinea-Bissau agreed on Monday to boost bilateral cooperation, including on food security, ahead of a Japan-hosted conference on African development this summer.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told the West African country's President Umaro Sissoco Embalo that he hopes that the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, to be held in late August in Yokohama, will become a forum to co-create solutions to the continent's challenges for their collective prosperity, according to the Foreign Ministry.
During their meeting at his office in Tokyo, Ishiba also told Embalo that "peace and stability in Guinea-Bissau is important for the stability" of West Africa, while urging "transparent and fair" presidential and parliamentary elections in November.
Embalo was quoted as saying he wants bilateral cooperation to deepen in "all areas," adding that the African nation places importance on TICAD.
The two leaders discussed the situation in East Asia, including North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals, and the war between Russia and Ukraine, as they affirmed the importance of the rule of law, the government said.
Embalo also visited the World Exposition in Osaka amid his first Japan trip since becoming president in 2020.
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