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         21 May 2004
PR/E18/04
 
 
 
ANNUAL AFRICA DAY SYMPOSIUM WILL BE HELD ON 24 MAY AT UN HOUSE IN TOKYO

The African Diplomatic Corps in Japan (ADC) and United Nations University (UNU), with the support of the Foreign Ministry of Japan, are co-organizing the 2004 Africa Day Symposium on Monday, 24 May, at UN House in Tokyo. As this will be the first Africa Day Symposium held after the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD III), the theme of the symposium will be "Trade & Investment in the Context of TICAD." By bringing to the forefront the importance of enhancing trade and investment in Africa, the symposium is also intended to provide input for the Asia Africa Trade & Investment Conference to be held in Japan in later this year.

The 2004 Africa Day Symposium will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the U Thant International Conference Hall. (The registration desk will open at 9:00 a.m.) The symposium's keynote session, which will be chaired by Salah Hannachi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Tunisia, and Dean of the ADC, will feature addresses by:

  • Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Executive Secretary, Economic Community of West African States;
  • Reijiro Hattori, Chairman, Seiko Corporation, and President, Africa Society of Japan;
  • Demba Ba, Manager, Private Sector Development Unit, Africa Region, World Bank;
  • Philippe Valahu, Director General, MIGA/Asia, World Bank;
  • Joseph Smadja, Deputy Director General, International Trade Centre, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development/World Trade Organization; and
  • Shigeru Omori, Director, First Africa Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

The symposium will include a panel discussion on "Strategize Africa to Japan and Asian Countries," chaired by UNU Rector Hans van Ginkel. Panelists will be the keynote speakers as well as Shinichi Saito, Executive Vice President, Japan External Trade Organization; Iwao Okamoto, Senior Executive Director, Japan Bank for International Cooperation; Shigeharu Sawai, Senior Manager, International Division, Chamber of Commerce; and Jean Christian Obame, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Gabon.

Simultaneous Japanese-English interpretation will be provided. The symposium is open to the public, but advance registration is required. A registration form and programme are available online at http://archive.unu.edu/hq/rector_office/events2004/events2004.html#africaday2004. Participants are also invited to visit the displays organized by the African Embassies in the 2nd floor UN Gallery.

Media representatives are cordially invited to attend. For those unable to attend, the symposium will be "webcast" live (and archived) at http://c3.unu.edu/unuvideo/?36.

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