Japan’s foreign minister to tour Latin America, Africa

Tokyo, Dec 25 (efe-epa).- Japan’s foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi announced Friday that on Jan. 4 he will undertake a tour of Latin America and Africa.

The trip will include Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Senegal, Nigeria and Kenya and will end on Jan. 14, Motegi said in a press conference.

He said it is the first tour of Latin America that a Japanese foreign minister has undertaken since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, which has limited the movements of Japanese abroad.

Motegi did not specify details of the tour, but indicated that in his official meetings he will seek to reaffirm bilateral cooperation with the countries visited and will review the business environment for Japanese companies operating in those nations.

In the case of Latin America, he will have the opportunity to contact the Japanese emigrant communities in those countries, especially in Brazil, where about 1.5 million people of Japanese origin live.

At the same press conference, Motegi confirmed that Japan has appointed Koji Tomita, until now the country’s representative to the South Korean government, as the new ambassador to the United States. EFE-EPA

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