Addis Ababa, — Ethiopia and Japan have agreed to consolidate their bilateral relations and enhance cooperation in various areas of mutual interest.

Ethiopia's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Mesganu Arga paid a courtesy call on Kiyoto Tsuji, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, on the sideline of Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial meeting in Tokyo.

The discussion focused on strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation in the field of political, economic and regional peace and stability issues in the Horn of Africa relations as well as broader Africa-Japan relations.

Ambassador Mesganu highlighted the longstanding relation between the two countries, underscored Ethiopia's firm commitment to strengthening its relationship with Japan.

He stressed the role of TICAD platforms in advancing greater cooperation in the field of economic and technology transfer and enhancing multilateral cooperation, according to Ethiopian Embassy in Tokyo.

The state minister further explained Ethiopia's desire to benefit from TICAD's initiative and to support African owned strategies and initiatives.

Furthermore, Ambassador Mesganu encouraged the entry of more Japanese companies to Ethiopia, to explore attractive opportunities created following macroeconomic reform, to maximize mutual benefits of the two countries.

On his part, Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kiyoto Tsuji underscored Japan's desire to strengthen its partnership with Ethiopia bilaterally, and on multilateral platforms like TICAD to enhance Africa-Japan relations based on a win-win approach.

Both officials engaged in a constructive discussion regarding bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual concern.