At audience with President Biya: Outgoing Japanese Ambassador hails bilateral ties with Cameroon.

The diplomat made the appraisal Tuesday January 9. This was shortly after a farewell audience granted him by the Head of State, President Paul Biya, at the Unity Palace.

Both personalities used the close to 35 minutes tête-à-tête to dissect the existing bilateral ties between Cameroon and Japan. 

The audience also served as an opportunity to review other corridors through which ties between Yaounde and Tokyo could further be strengthened.  

Speaking to reporters at the end of the audience, the Japanese diplomat said aside bidding farewell to President Biya, the audience was also an opportunity for him to thank the Cameroonian sovereign for his graciousness.      

“It was gracious and kind for me to tell him words of appreciation of the Japan-Cameroon relations and how much progress we have made during the past two years during which I was ambassador here,” H.E Nozomu said.

The diplomat also told reporters that it was necessary for them to talk on the importance to promote peace and living together.

“A country like Cameroon and the rest of the world should strive to promote dialogue. We have to make more effort to have dialogue and I appreciate the Cameroonian stance on this,” the diplomat stated.

Cameroon and Japan, Ambassador Nozomu emphasised, have made advancements in domains such as agriculture, fisheries, health and capacity-building.

Such areas of cooperation, he added, have for decades and for over two years of his stay in Cameroon, grown even better.

Tokyo and Yaounde, H.E Nozomu said, are strategic partners in the realisation of the Presidential Reconstruction and Development Plan of the North West and South West Regions, PPRD-NW/SW. 

“A country like Cameroon and the rest of the world should strive to promote dialogue. We have to make more effort to have dialogue and I appreciate the Cameroonian stance on this,” H.E Nozomu added, while praying expressing the wish for ties between Cameroon-Japan to grow even stronger. 

Zooming further on relations between both nations, H.E Nozomu noted that: “There has been so much advancement in our relationships”.

The diplomat equally expressed his love and admiration for the people of Cameroon, whom he described as “very kind and generous”, noting that he enjoyed his diplomatic sojourn in the country. 

H.E Nozomu, it should be said, was appointed Japanese Ambassador to Cameroon in 2021.

Cameroon, Japan ties

Cooperation ties between Cameroon and Japan spans in different domains and sectors. At the level of education, Japan has assisted Cameroon in the construction of primary schools through micro-project grants. 

Japan has also partnered in the project for the recovery in the South West Region under the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the North West and South West Regions through the rehabilitation of health centres and water points.

In the domain of agricultural, Japan has collaborated in the project for upland rice and irrigation rice development, PRODERIP, by strengthening the value chain and successfully bringing in higher yield and better quality of the upland and irrigated rice under the name: Ndop Rice Diamond. 

Also, the government of Japan has worked in the project for the improvement in fish landing facility and fish market in Youpwe, Douala.

At the level of industries and parastatals, Japan, it should be said, has worked for the integration of Small and Medium-sized enterprises with the promotion of the KAIZEN Project which aims to enhance business sustainability, management skills and production capacity.