The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Tunisians Abroad stated that yesterday, January 23, 2023, the Minister Othman Jerandi received, at the headquarters of the ministry, the Japanese Deputy Assistant Minister and Director-General of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau, Kansuke Nagaoka.

Cooperation relations binding Tunisia and Japan and ways to foster them were at heart of this meeting, which was also an occasion to discuss the preparations for the forthcoming bilateral events, mainly the 11^th Joint Tunisian-Japanese Commission and the outcome of the 8^th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8) hosted by Tunisia in August 2022, according to a press release by the Ministry.

The last Joint Tunisian-Japanese Commission was held in February 2019 in Tokyo.

The two officials praised the excellent friendship and cooperation relations binding the two countries and stressed on the willingness to further foster them and open new horizons in a way to ensure an efficient partnership at the bilateral and tripartite levels between Tunisia, Japan and Africa.

In the same context, the Tunisian Minister pointed out the interest Tunisia lends to the follow-up of the meeting held remotely on August 26, 2022 between President Kais Saied and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the materialization of the recommendations drawn up during the TICAD8.

Nagaoka, who is currently on a working visit to Tunisia, hailed the success of the TICAD8, which had been a new opportunity for the development of relations between the two countries.

The Japanese official further expressed his country's keenness to keep supporting Tunisia, diversify the economic and financial cooperation fields and further develop the legal framework governing bilateral relations.