Remarks	  made	  by	  H.E.	  Mr.	  ESTIFANOS	  Afeworki,	  Ambassador	  of	  the	  State	  of	  Eritrea	  to	  Japan	  and	  Dean	  of	  the	  African	  Diplomatic	  Corps	  (ADC)	  in	  Tokyo	  on	  the	  Occasion	  of	  NIKKEI	  GLOBAL	  STRATEGY	  FORUM	  FOR	  TICAD	  VI	  -­‐	  May	  27,	  2016:	  	  • Mr.	  Norio	  Maruyama,	  Ambassador,	  Director-­‐General,	  African	  Affairs,	  Department,	  Ministry	  of	  Foreign	  Affairs,	  Japan	  • Mr.	  Yutaka	  Kase,	  Chairman,	  Committee	  on	  Sub-­‐Saharan	  Africa,	  Keidanren,	  and	  Chairman	  of	  the	  Board,	  Sojitz	  Corporation	  • Mr.	  Katsumi	  Hirano,	  Executive	  Vice	  President,	  Japan	  External	  Trade	  Organization	  (JETRO)	  • Excellencies	  and	  Dear	  Colleagues	  • Ladies	  and	  Gentlemen	  	  African	  countries	  (54	  of	  them)	  are	  committed	  and	  keen	  to	  foster	  trade	  by	  encouraging	  all	  kinds	  of	  private	  and	  public	  investment	  with	  Japan	  especially	  those	  with	  a	  future	  to	  promote	  export	  capacity.	  To	  make	  their	  commitment	  real,	  most	  of	  our	  countries	  in	  the	  continent	  have	  implemented	  liberal	  investment	  laws,	  tax	  regime	  and	  adopted	  a	  responsible	  fiscal	  policy.	  In	  most	  of	  our	  countries,	  domestic	  capital	  and	  FDI	  are	  given	  equal	  opportunity,	  and	  inflow	  is	  encouraged	  and	  protected	  by	  an	  ideal	  investment	  atmosphere.	  	  	  Foreign	  capital	  may	  establish	  business	  entities	  on	  its	  own	  or	  in	  partnership	  with	  local	  capital.	  Labor	  laws,	  tax	  regime,	  foreign	  exchange	  regulations,	  business	  licensing	  and	  guarantees	  are	  addressed	  appropriately	  and	  have	  been	  made	  responsive	  to	  the	  competitive	  world	  situations.	  	  	  Investment	  into	  the	  development	  and	  utilization	  of	  the	  rich	  natural	  and	  human	  resources;	  import	  substituting	  businesses;	  introducing	  new	  technology	  to	  enhance	  and	  improve	  production	  competitiveness	  and	  thereby	  optimize	  resource	  exploitation,	  which	  include	  and	  not	  exclude	  expansion	  of	  SMEs	  and	  industries;	  equitable	  regional	  growth	  and	  development,	  etc.	  are	  wholly	  promoted	  and	  encouraged	  in	  Africa,	  both	  at	  the	  local	  and	  regional	  level.	  Most	  of	  our	  countries	  have	  an	  established	  centralized	  "one	  stop”-­‐	  licensing	  center	  to	  facilitate	  the	  speedy	  formation	  of	  business	  ventures.	  	  	  Ladies	  and	  gentlemen,	  	  Companies	  from	  Japan	  can	  participate	  in	  different	  forms	  of	  business	  organization,	  including	  ordinary	  partnerships,	  limited	  partnerships,	  share	  companies	  formation	  in	  various	  investment	  areas	  of	  our	  countries	  through	  ODA	  loan,	  equity	  and	  shares.	  	  	  In	  most	  of	  our	  countries	  investment	  are	  expected	  to	  give	  priority	  in	  employment	  to	  the	  locals	  with	  the	  requisite	  qualifications.	  In	  the	  absence	  of	  national	  experts,	  investors	  may	  employ	  expatriates	  in	  technical	  or	  managerial	  level,	  but	  might	  be	  obliged	  to	  train	  nationals	  during	  their	  ventures	  to	  replace	  expatriates.	  	  	  	  1	  Some	  of	  the	  unique	  free	  zones	  engaged	  in	  trading,	  industry,	  storage	  or	  other	  activities	  in	  strategic	  location	  of	  our	  countries	  need	  not	  pay	  any	  tax	  including	  personal	  tax	  on	  profit,	  bank	  interests	  from	  accounts,	  or	  bank	  business	  documents	  or	  shares.	  	  	  African	  countries	  are	  endowed	  with	  diverse	  and	  huge	  unexploited	  resources.	  The	  balance	  between	  natural	  resources	  and	  population	  is	  at	  its	  lowest	  stage	  with	  ample	  opportunities	  for	  future	  development	  via	  synchronized	  mutual	  investment	  ventures.	  	  	  African	  countries'	  prospects	  for	  harnessing	  their	  natural	  resources,	  especially	  agriculture,	  fisheries	  (marine	  resources)	  through	  the	  enhanced	  participation	  of	  the	  public	  and	  private	  participation	  of	  investment	  from	  Japan	  and	  other	  partners	  are	  not	  only	  extremely	  high	  and	  but	  very	  useful	  to	  the	  national	  development	  imperatives	  of	  our	  countries	  at	  this	  juncture	  of	  their	  history.	  	  	  African	  countries	  when	  appropriately	  approached	  and	  partnered	  can	  also	  serve	  as	  a	  hub	  for	  regional	  and	  international	  business,	  investment	  and	  financial	  dealings	  from	  Japan.	  	  	  	  Agriculture,	  industries,	  fisheries/marine	  resources,	  manufacturing,	  natural	  resources,	  tourism,	  transportation,	  infrastructure,	  other	  services:	  such	  as	  banking,	  insurance	  and	  financial	  system	  are	  seen	  as	  priorities	  of	  priorities	  where	  our	  governments	  in	  Africa	  shall	  give	  support	  to	  your	  ventures	  from	  Japan.	  	  Production	  of	  food	  and	  export	  cereals,	  cash	  crops,	  animal	  husbandry,	  livestock	  fattening,	  poultry,	  animal	  feed,	  forest	  products,	  fruits,	  vegetables,	  flowers,	  fresh	  and	  processed	  dairy	  and	  meat	  products,	  hides,	  skins	  and	  leather	  production,	  sea	  food	  processing,	  aquaculture,	  boat	  construction/maintenance,	  beach/marine	  resorts,	  dive	  centers,	  cruise/boat	  charters,	  water	  sports,	  hotels,	  restaurants,	  entrainment,	  golf	  course,	  sport	  clubs,	  leisure	  centers,	  conference/convention	  centers,	  tour	  itineraries,	  hot	  springs,	  parks	  and	  reserves,	  roads,	  railways,	  dams,	  sea	  and	  airports,	  water	  supply,	  power,	  telecommunications,	  business	  and	  residential	  houses,	  modern	  land,	  air	  and	  sea	  transport	  systems,	  hospitals,	  schools	  that	  can	  meet	  domestic,	  regional	  and	  international	  demands,	  etc.	  do	  provide	  immense	  opportunities	  to	  companies	  from	  Japan.	  	  All	  these	  opportunities	  that	  I	  just	  mentioned	  and	  what	  each	  and	  every	  African	  country	  complements	  with	  many	  more	  others	  that	  I	  didn’t	  can	  avail	  themselves	  by	  providing	  their	  already	  existing	  business	  base	  in	  the	  very	  strategic	  locations	  of	  Africa	  facing	  the	  economic	  neighborhoods	  of	  Middle	  East,	  Asia,	  America	  and	  Europe.	  Especially	  the	  blue	  economy	  of	  Africa	  is	  there,	  virgin,	  alive	  and	  kicking,	  to	  intertwine	  with	  the	  developed	  economies	  –	  crisscrossing	  the	  Indian	  Ocean,	  Red	  Sea,	  Mediterranean	  and	  Atlantic	  Ocean.	  
Representing	  the	  world's	  highest	  economic	  growth	  arena,	  Africa	  has	  now	  entered	  into	  an	  age	  of	  investment	  as	  opposed	  to	  just	  traditional	  aid.	  There	  is	  an	  increasing	  move	  towards	  leveraging	  aid	  for	  greater	  trade	  and	  investment	  and	  to	  	  2	  supporting	  small	  and	  medium	  sized	  enterprises,	  which	  are	  the	  backbone	  of	  African	  economies.	  	  	  Therefore,	  I	  believe,	  given	  this	  changing	  background,	  it	  is	  time	  for	  the	  Japanese	  government	  and	  relevant	  private	  stakeholders,	  to	  be	  engaged	  constructively	  with	  African	  leaders	  through	  TICAD	  VI,	  which	  will	  be	  held	  in	  Nairobi	  Kenya	  coming	  August	  2016.	  Tokyo	  International	  Cooperation	  on	  African	  Development,	  as	  it	  stands	  today,	  remains	  a	  key	  component	  and	  facilitator	  of	  Japan	  and	  African	  countries	  business	  tie-­‐up	  mechanisms.	  Hence	  I	  believe,	  given	  the	  current	  background	  of	  the	  opportunities	  in	  our	  continent,	  the	  corporates	  of	  Japan	  will	  transform	  their	  approach	  and	  attitude	  to	  reflect	  the	  economic	  growth	  priorities	  in	  Africa.	  Those	  corporates	  who	  treat	  these	  huge	  opportunities	  with	  indifference	  will	  definitely	  pay	  for	  their	  neglect.	  
To	  conclude,	  welcome	  to	  Africa.	  Don’t	  forget	  to	  Come	  and	  See	  my	  country	  Eritrea.	  
Seeing	  is	  believing.	  Lets	  build	  a	  bridge	  of	  partnership	  between	  African	  counties	  and	  Japan	  businesses	  together.	  	  Thank	  you,	  	  	  	  	  3