President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has today met and held productive talks with the visiting Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Ms. Eri Arfiya.
During a meeting held at State House Entebbe, President Museveni warmly welcomed his guest to Uganda and reiterated Uganda’s position in maintaining and strengthening the cordial relationship existing between Uganda and Japan.
“We have a very good relationship with Japan, there is no problem at all-no issues”, the President asserted.
President Museveni, additionally, commended the government of Japan for the bilateral development projects undertaken in Uganda citing the Bridge over the Nile in Jinja and the Kampala flyover as well as Gulu to Atiak road.
“Japanese are our very good friends, they have helped with some bilateral projects like the bridge over the Nile, then the fly over and the Gulu – Atiak road,” he said.
President Museveni, however, reiterated his appeal through his guest to Japanese companies to take keen interest in the private sector.
“I have been trying to encourage Japanese companies to invest in the private sector because there, we can do more work. Bilateral aid is good, but the bigger and better way is the private sector, because in the private sector you create jobs, you expand the economy, you bring in foreign currency and you cover more ground,” the President observed.
President Museveni called on the Japanese companies to tap on the potentially huge market of Africa that will be 2.5 billion people in the next 30 years, forming a quarter of the human race.
The President further urged the visiting Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan to woo investors to invest in the construction of the railway network that could link markets on the continent under the umbrella of Continental Free Trade Area(CFTA).
“Japan could play the two roles, because if you talk of the CFTA, it can be CFTA on paper, but you must have infrastructure to link the market, to build a railway from East Africa to Congo and from Congo to Central Africa that can lower the cost of doing business,” he proposed.
He also asked them to look into the construction of toll roads.
President Museveni informed his guest of the urgent need of road equipment for the construction and maintenance of the road network in Uganda, noting that with the increase of districts to 147 and more municipalities, there is need for more units of road equipment.
President Museveni acknowledged the role Uganda is playing in welcoming and hosting refugees from neighboring countries, noting that it was the artificial colonial boundaries that separated the people at the borders who are otherwise of the same ethnicity.
“The root chaos in Africa is caused by neo-colonial agents who are working for foreign interests, and they bring the politics of identity, politics of tribe and religion. But our movement, started as a student movement in the 1960s, was able to expose the wrong politics of identity and we pushed for politics of interest. That is how we have been able to stabilize Uganda and also those Africans who are suffering in their own countries,” he said.
“Even the colonial borders are artificial, there is no way we cannot welcome our people, the only problem is logistics. Politically it is not a problem for us to keep refugees until their countries are peaceful and they go back.”
On her part, Ms. Arfiya thanked President Museveni for the very warm hospitality accorded to her and her delegation and also assured President Museveni of her personal push for investment projects as well as infrastructure development programs once she sets foot at home in Japan.
She praised President Museveni for championing the resettlement of refugees in Uganda and ensuring peace and stability not only in Uganda but also in the sub-region.
“Uganda has done an incredible job in ensuring that there is peace and stability here for your own people as well as those in the region. On humanitarian support, Japan will remain aligned to you,” she asserted.
Ms. Arfiya delivered a letter of invitation to President Museveni to attend the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) slated for August 2025. President Museveni assured his guest that a high-level delegation will represent him at the event.
Members of the delegation of the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, included Mr. Hayashi Tatsuro the Director Second Africa Division, Mr. Higashi Kunihiko, the Director Third Country Assistance Planning Division and Mr. Sasayama Takuya the Japanese Ambassador to Uganda, among others.
The high-level Ugandan dignitaries at the meeting were, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Okello Oryem and Mr. Elly Kafeero, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
