Our Diplomat guest today is the Ambassador of Japan to Ethiopia, Daisuke Matsunaga. The official Ethio-Japan partnership is long, with our friendly relations dating back to the 1930s, when Ethiopia and Japan signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, the number of Japanese nationals residing in Ethiopia is 240 (as of February 2018). Regarding Cultural Exchanges, the two countries organize various exhibitions, musical and sporting events, and other festivals aimed at introducing traditional and modern cultural assets. Excerpts:
1) To begin with, would you tell us about the diplomatic relationship between the two countries?
I would like to start with the most recent development in our bilateral relations, and then go back in time. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono visited Ethiopia on 5 May and met with Prime Minister Dr. Abiy. They had a very friendly and yet substantive discussion. The Japanese Foreign Minister expressed Japan’s support for the Prime Minister’s reform efforts both at home and abroad. He praised Prime Minister Dr. Abiy for bringing about freedom and democracy to the country and peace and stability to the region.
The Foreign Minister also extended an invitation to TICAD from Japanese Prime Minister Abe to Prime Minister Dr. Abiy, and asked him to lead discussions regarding peace and stability in Africa. It was back in the year 1930 that the Ethio-Japan relationship began. It was the year that Emperor Haile Selassie was enthroned. The same year, the two countries established diplomatic relations. Since then, our relationship has progressed soundly.
At one time, there was talk of a marriage between Haile Selassie’s nephew and a Japanese lady But because of some intervention from a foreign country, it did not materialize. After the war [World War II], it was in 1955 that we [our two countries] restored relations. And in 1956, Emperor Haile Selassie was welcomed in Japan as the first state guest from abroad since World War II. The Emperor was immensely pleased with the visit and impressed by the beauty of Japan and the Japanese garden.
So the Emperor decided to replicate the Japanese garden in his palace. And it is still there today in the Presidential Palace of Ethiopia. We are very keen to restore its beauty. In 1960, four years after the visit of the Ethiopian Emperor, the Japanese Crown Prince and Princess (today’s Emperor Emeritus and Emperor Emerita) came to Ethiopia in return.
1960 was also a remarkable year in that Abebe Bikila became the first African to win a gold medal after running barefoot at the Rome Olympics. So the Crown Prince asked Abebe to come to Tokyo in four years for the next Olympics. Abebe kept his promise and went to Tokyo, where he won his second gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.
2) What are the priority cooperation areas of Japan and Ethiopia?
Currently, the Japanese Government provides economic assistance to Ethiopia through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and through UN agencies and NGOs. JICA has four pillars of cooperation in Ethiopia. The first is agriculture and rural development. The second is industrial promotion. The third is infrastructure development, that is to say, high-quality, sustainable, sound and longlasting infrastructure development.
And the fourth is education and health. Japan is committed to supporting Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s pacification and integration efforts in the Horn of Africa and other reform activities in the country. In addition, Japan supports the Addis Ababa City Environmental Preservation Project, which includes the Koshe waste site’s cleaning and safety-enhancement efforts. Japan is committed to elevating its partnership with Ethiopia to a higher level.
A good example of one of our infrastructure projects is the grant assistance project for “geothermal power generation in Aluto Langano”. Japan is also envisaging a future Official Development Assistance (ODA) project to improve the electricity supply of Addis Ababa. This project is known as the “Addis Ababa Transmission and Distribution System Rehabilitation and Upgrading Project”. It has not yet been officially adopted but conceptualized for the future.
3) How do you assess the trade balance between Ethiopia and Japan?
Actually, our bilateral trade is pretty well balanced according to Japan’s statistics. In 2018, they show imports from Ethiopia to Japan as 11 billion Japanese Yen, and exports from Japan to Ethiopia as 5 billion Yen. However, according to Ethiopian statistics, the situation is reversed, with exports from Japan to Ethiopia exceeding imports from Ethiopia to Japan. There are many cases of such discrepancies, depending on which country’s statistics are used. However, in terms of macro-economics, global trade balance and global current account balance are more meaningful than this kind of bilateral trade balance.
4) How eager is Japan to utilize the untapped African market?
What are the manifestations and ways to do this? I think everybody is watching the African market with keen interest. Having a population of more than 1.2 billion means there is a lot of potential and there is a lot of room for intraAfrican trade and investment, which has yet to be tapped. And the African Union is keen to enact the Free Trade agreement between African countries. So it should be noted that there is a lot of potential. When we come to Ethiopia, we realize that the country has abundant potential for tourism.
Addis Ababa (Bole) is already a hub of international air travel. Ethiopia is endowed with romantic and interest-arousing historical episodes. The legend of the Queen Sheba is a case in point. The Holy Ark of the Covenant, which is supposed to be preserved (kept and stored) in Aksum is another one. This Bible-related history is fascinating to highly-educated, faithful tourists. The RockHewn Churches of Lalibela, the Castles of Gondar and other destinations can also be alluring to foreign tourists. Combining the above two [air travel hub and history], one can tap into the tremendous tourism potential of Ethiopia, which can be a significant source of foreign exchange.
The importance of earning foreign exchange is in its ability to fuel industrialization. Foreign exchange earned through tourism can be used to import components of manufacturing such as machinery, petroleum products, and various raw materials, among others, that can then be turned into value added products for export. Kenya is said to earn USD 1.1 billion a year from tourism. While Kenya attracts animal lovers, Ethiopia can target highly-educated history enthusiasts. I think Ethiopia has the ability to tap into such resources.
The following are some specific measures that can be used to promote Ethiopian tourism. Packaged tours by Ethiopian Airlines (roundtrip, hotel accommodations, visits to the main famous sites by highly knowledgeable tour guides), advertisements using catchphrases such as “Land of Origins” or something like that can be shown on CNN/BBC (e.g. “Malaysia Truly Asia”, “Incredible India”, “Hidden Charm Vietnam” and “Endless Discovery Japan”), adhering to safety measures, as well as the availability of gift shops and Ethiopian coffee ceremony shops could significantly contribute to boosting Ethiopian tourism.
About 25 years ago, I recall that Malaysia started promoting its tourism through a commercial on CNN. They came up with a good catchphrase. The melody of the music used in those “Malaysia Truly Asia” commercials introducing Malaysia was really charming and such catchphrases can be really successful in tourism. Another example is Croatia. The country succeeded in attracting tourists from the rest of Europe. I think Europeans themselves did not know that there were such sub-tropical beaches in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet bloc.
It came as a pleasant surprise. All these countries were successful through the use of commercials broadcast on international media like BBC and CNN. I think Ethiopia can do the same to charm Western tourists, particularly if you appeal to them with your Biblical history. There is also a famous opera written by an Italian composer, Giuseppe Verdi, entitled “Aida”, the heroine of which is an Ethiopian Princess. It is performed often in Europe.
One possible tourist attraction might be performing the opera at Gondar Castle and at other historical places with proper lighting at night. It would fascinate everyone. I’m sure that will attract a huge number of opera fans to Ethiopia. Some countries attract visitors through completely man-made and artificial objects. Ethiopia, on the other hand, is already blessed with rich tourism resources, and there is no reason not to take advantage of them.
5) What is Japan’s stance on strengthening the Ethio-Japan Business forum? And how successful has it been in attracting participants and cementing the business-to-business ties?
In 2016, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) opened its office here [Addis Ababa] as its 74th overseas office in 55 countries. Then in February 2017, a workshop on investment opportunities in Ethiopia was held in Tokyo, which attracted many participants. The workshop succeeded in arousing even more interest in Ethiopia as a prospective investment destination, so a number of Japanese companies formed a mission led by JETRO in September of that same year, and visited the country. Thus, the Ethio-Japan Business forum generated greater interest among Japanese corporations. Japanese businesses are interested in making investments in Ethiopia. I recently met with a company that has been exporting roses from Ethiopia for some years. They said that Ethiopian roses are of higher quality than other countries’.
6) What activities have you undertaken towards promoting the two country’s people-to-people cultural ties?
Recently, our Embassy participated in a cultural event sponsored by the Addis Ababa City Culture and Tourism Bureau. We were awarded a certificate for our contribution. In fact, we added a little color to the event. Separately, we teach judo, one of the Japanese martial arts, to young people in Ethiopia, including to children. Judo’s goal is not only to create fine individuals, but also to teach the philosophy of peaceful coexistence and friendship promotion.
7) Would you tell us about Japan’s commitment to knowledge-exchange especially in the area of technology?
Regarding technology transfer, the philosophy of Japanese technical cooperation is unique. Our ultimate goal is for recipient countries to become able to help themselves. In other words, we want a country to become able to help itself rather than continue our assistance forever. This applies to all our technical cooperation in say, agriculture, disaster prevention, water supply, health and education, etc. Our objective is to enable Ethiopian experts and technicians to become able to do the work by themselves.
8) How much do Japanese companies invest in Ethiopian Industrial Parks? And how do you explain the investment environment here?
Currently, a company called YKK is considering starting production in an industrial park. Another Japanese company called Tomonias has been thinking of investing in Bole Lemi II Industrial Park, about which negotiations are ongoing. Japan Tobacco International has made a large investment of US$ 944 million. One of our major trading firms, the Mitsubishi Corporation, has a local company here. Marubeni and Itochu also have offices in Addis Ababa.
Leather product firms Hiroki and Andu Amet produce their goods in Ethiopia. Major automobile companies such as Toyota, Nissan, Isuzu and Suzuki have local sales agents. Ethiopia is the second largest African country in terms of population, with more than 100 million people. Besides, its economy has been growing by double digits over the past 15 years. The population is young and the economy has great potential. Ethiopia is already exporting coffee, sesame and roses to Japan. And now some Japanese companies are considering importing textiles and garments. The investment climate here is showing promise for the future.
9) What is your comment about the ongoing industrialization efforts in Ethiopia? Japan has been helping Ethiopia’s industrialization. Have you ever heard the word “Kaizen”? Kaizen is the most successful concept for raising productivity. The 5S’s constitute the core of the Kaizen concept; namely, Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. We encourage factories and offices to put things in order. I visited a health centre in the countryside that had adopted KAIZEN.
There, medicines are arranged in such a way that the most frequently used ones are placed near the counter, and the others are also placed in the order of the frequency of their use. The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE) also applied this concept [Kaizen] to their operations. I visited their truck repair factory. The difference is evident in photos comparing “before” and “after” their use of KAIZEN. The Ethiopian Kaizen Institute (EKI) is providing various Kaizen training to the industrial sector. The Institute also sends its experts to individual companies in the country. So, KAIZEN is one salient manifestation of Japan’s cooperation in the area of industrial promotion.
10) How do you find Ethiopia? Could you tell us your personal reflections?
I think the Japanese people and Ethiopia people have a lot in common. Both peoples are reserved, neither too pushy nor too aggressive. I am very much impressed with the faithfulness of many Ethiopians. Currently, I am learning the Amharic language. I have become able to exchange simple greetings with people, which makes me happy. (And this writer also saw that the Ambassador brought the Amharic alphabet together with his work documents while we conducted our interview in his office).
11) If you have something to add you are welcome.
Ethiopia has been the largest contributor of peace-keeping forces in the world since the days of the Korean War. I know about a song from that time by the late Dr. Tilahun Gesesse telling the story of an Ethiopian soldier who fell in love with a Japanese woman when he was on holiday in Japan. In fact, this afternoon [day of interview April 19, 2019] I am going to attend a signing ceremony for Japan’s assistance to the Ethiopian International Peace Keeping Training Centre. Japan has been contributing and providing assistance to Ethiopia in various ways. On an accumulated basis, since the 1970s, Japan has provided 9.2, 114.8 and 46.4 billion yen in loans, grants and technical assistance, respectively. I really want to promote friendship between the Japanese and Ethiopian peoples.
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday Edition, May19/ 2019
BY TEWODROS KASSA
