His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio and Her Excellency Madam Fatima Bio have arrived in Yokohama ahead of the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) scheduled for the 28th – 30th August 2019.
His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio, First Lady Fatima Bio and other members of the delegation were received in Yokohama by senior officials of the Government of Japan and Sierra Leone’s Minister of Foreign Affiars and International Cooperation, Honorable Mrs Nabeela Tunis who had been part of an advanced team on the preparation of the TICAD7 Summit.
His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio will commence participation on Wednesday 28th August at the opening session of the TICAD7 Summit together with a large number of other African Heads of State and Government and representatives of international organisations, development partners, private companies, civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations. TICAD is the largest international conference normally held in Japan and thousands of participants are expected to participate in this year’s Summit.
Whilst in Japan, His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio is also expected to hold a bilateral meeting on the margins of the conference with the Prime Minister of Japan, His Excellency Shinzō Abe to strengthening the relationship between Sierra Leone and Japan. He is also expected to hold meeting with the Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which is the agency that coordinates official Development Assistance for the government of Japan. His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio and Her Excellency Madam Fatima Bio are also expected to participate in several events on the margins of the Summit.
The theme for this year’s TICAD7 Summit is: “Advancing Africa’s development through people, technology and innovation”. And the three pillars of the TICAD7 Summit are: (1) Accelerating economic transformation and improving business environment through innovation and private sector engagement; (2) Deepening sustainable and resilient society and (3) Strengthening peace and stability. This TICAD7 is President Bio’s maiden summit on Tokyo International Conference on African Development since his election as President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. The last TICAD Summit (TICAD6) was held in 2016 for the first time in Africa in Nairobi, Kenya and it was attended by 11,000 people including business persons from about 200 Japanese companies.
Source: State House Media, Freetown
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