The government is making final arrangements to include the promotion of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy led by Japan and the United States in a declaration at the upcoming Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).
The declaration will be adopted at the end of the conference, which is to be held in Yokohama on Aug. 28-30. In the statement, the government will express its stance that Japan and the United States will take the initiative in providing assistance to African countries, apparently with China's growing influence in Africa in mind.
A declaration summarizing the future direction of African development has been adopted at almost every TICAD meeting since the first was held in 1993.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled the Indo-Pacific initiative for the first time during his keynote address at the previous meeting held in Kenya in August 2016. It is a diplomatic strategy aimed at promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, which connects the Asian and African continents, based on the rule of law and international order.
Some African countries have been burdened with debts that exceed their repayment capacity, as a result of relying on Chinese funds for port development. With this in mind, the Japanese government plans to explain to African countries the Indo-Pacific plan, which will provide investment in such social infrastructure as railways and ports based on international standards in principle. The government hopes to stipulate the initiative in a declaration as a guideline for assistance to Africa.
In recent years, a series of pirate attacks and illegal fishing have been reported in the Gulf of Guinea and other areas. TICAD members will confirm the importance of maintaining maritime order not only in the Indo-Pacific region but also in the Atlantic region.
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