The African Diplomatic Corps (ADC) held its monthly meeting on December 17, 2009, at the Residence of the Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia to Japan, H.E. Dr. Noureddine HACHED, whose turn was to host the meeting. The Dean of the ADC, H.E. Mr. Jean-Christian OBAME, Ambassador of Gabon to Japan, chaired the said meeting.

In his welcome address, Ambassador Hached expressed the pleasure and honour to host the meeting and wished successful deliberations.

The Dean, on behalf of the ADC group thanked the host for his king hospitality and for the excellent accommodations made for the meeting.

In the first part the session, the ADC received, as special guests, the representatives from UNIDO (Mr. HAGIWARA), JICA (Mr. SHIMODA), and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) (Mr. SAKAMOTO). The purpose of their visit was to officially invite the members of the ADC to attend the “Joint Workshop” to be organised on February 9-10, 2010 under the main theme: “Japanese ODA and Its Procedures”. In connection with the Workshop, a site visit is also planned under the theme:” Recycle of Waste Metal Materials & Role of Small Scale Enterprises in Japan” (please click here for the full the workshop program).

In their presentations, the three Guests explained the objectives to be achieved by the workshop, which are to promote Japanese trade and investment to Africa in line with the Yokohama TICAD IV Action plan. In this regard, they indicated that their institutions do have schemes (technical and financial) for undertaking such a promotion. Thus, it is their role to let those schemes and procedures to be well known and used by the private sector both in Japan and Africa.

Reacting to the presentations, the ADC members generally welcomed the initiative to organize a workshop aimed at promoting trade and investment between Japan and Africa. They however indicated that the workshop should be an “Action-oriented One” leading to tangible results. 

Turning to the agenda of the day, several items were considered, including:

-    The preparation for the next Tokyo African Club (TAC) meeting at MOFA on December 21, 2009;
-    The review of the 2010 work programs by the ADC sub-committees set up during the previous ADC meeting (ADC Sub-committee for Trade and Investment, ADC Sub-committee for Science and Technology, and ADC Sub committees for the 2010 Africa Day Symposium & Reception) ; and
-    The review of the ADC Proceedings and related matters.

During the deliberations, it was decided to postpone the review of the ADC Rules and Proceedings as well as the review of the ADC ad hoc committee’s report on the “Synergy between TICAD and AU/NEPAD” until the next ADC monthly meeting.

The ADC agreed to hold its next meeting, to be hosted by the Embassy of Uganda, in the second part of January 2010.

In closing the last ADC monthly meeting for the year 2009, the Dean extended his greetings for a happy new year to everyone and expressed the wish for an even stronger and mutually beneficial partnership between Japan and the Nations of Africa.

More photos of the meeting can be found in the ADC Gallery.

Photos were shot by Randy Yu/Gabon Embassy.