Annex I
Your Excellency Mr. Toshihisa TAKATA
Amb. Of Japan to Eritrea
I would like to express my pleasure and those of mycolleagues here and that of my Government inwelcoming you here to Eritrea. Thank you for thevisit.
This is an opportunity for all of us to discuss andassess the results of our co-operation within thecontext of the regular Economic Co-operationconsultation.
We hope also that your Excellency had a chance tosee a little bit of Eritrea during the short time that you
had and perhaps an opportunity to see some of theinfrastructure built in Eritrea with the Japanesesupport.
Your Excellency.
In the socio-economic development program ofEritrea, the country aims at moving the economy
towards self-sustaining growth with social justice.
Eritrea also believes that regional and international
co-operation is vital for achieving this objective.
Within this context, Japanese support for the1

development of Eritrea, which started right after theformal declaration of independence and continues tothis day has been significant as well as consistent
with our development priorities.
Your Excellency
As we assess the results of our past and current Cooperation and indicate our future line of co-operation,
it is important to put in brief and plain terms ournational development objectives which guide ourfuture co-operation.
The essence of our National development Objectives
as has been articulated by the EPLF can be briefly
summed in the following priorities. The focus of theGovernment effort is to satisfy the continuously
increasing material needs of the population in terms
of:- food safety and security- water and sanitation- housing and amenities- transport and communication
As well as the cultural needs of the population interms of:- health- education and training- skills development- Sport and other cultural actives
2In short it is a development program which
essentially put the Eritrean citizen at the center of it
all .i.e. the development of the potential of every
citizen:- as the bases- as the means- and as the ultimate purpose of all development
efforts
Your Excellency,
The Ministry of National Development would like toexpress its appreciation to the Japanese people andGovernment for giving Eritrea a helping hand in our
national effort towards the realization of the above
stated socio-economic objectives.
Despite the numerous and well known obstacles
including the no-war no-peace situation with Ethiopia
our achievements so far are commendable.
To mention some examples:- Life Expectancy in Eritrea has reached now
between 62-63 years both for men and forwomen. This is up from an estimated 44 years at
the time of independence.
- During this period maternal, infant and childmortality rates have all been reduced by half asconfirmed by numerous surveys and reflected in3

UNDP, WHO and other international
publications.
- In the education sector the participation rate of
the school age population is close to 73% level
or in absolute terms it is up from around 200,000
at the time of independence now to over 600,000
according to MOE statistics. The future workforce of Eritrea is being equipped with
Knowledge, skill and motivation.
To provide this wok-force with modern Job
opportunities, the Government has been mobilizing
resources for investment in economic infrastructuresuch as- energy- water- transport/ communication/ storage- industrial parks- housing and office buildings- expanding banking and insurance services
as well as promoting investment in enterprises bothpublic and private.
It is worth mentioning that Japanese Government
support has been precisely on these socio-economic
development priorities of the Eritrean Government.
My colleagues present here in this consultation forum
will next present briefly the results of our joint effort4

each in the specific area of co-operation under hisguidance.
Concluding may brief introductory remarks I would
like once again to express my appreciation for theimportant support as mentioned earlier which wehope will continue and expand in the future.
Your Excellency, Last but not least, I would like to express mysympathy and solidarity with the Japanesepeople and Government who have suffered agreat deal in lives lost and material wealthdestroyed through the scourge of theTSUNANMI, we are confident that the Japanese
People and Government will overcome thischallenge and wish you success.
Thank you.
Giorgis Teklemikael (Dr.)
Minister of National Development
August 22, 20115