Her Excellency Dr. Joyce Banda,
President of the Republic of Malawi, who is in Yokohama, Japan, to attend the
TICAD V, on Friday held bilateral discussions with the President of Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Mr. Akihiko Tanaka at the Intercontinental
Yokohoma Hotel in Japan.
During the discussions, President
Banda witnessed the signing of a Grant Agreement where the Japanese Government
will soon start constructing a multi-million Kwacha state-of-the-art Teachers’
Training College (TTC) for secondary school teachers in Lilongwe.
Minister of Economic Planning and
Development, Ralph Jooma, signed on behalf of the Malawi Government while Mr.
Akihiko Tanaka signed on behalf of the Japanese Government.
In her remarks, Her Excellency the President
expressed gratitude to the Government of Japan for the assistance it renders to
Malawi through JICA, noting that Japan’s assistance to Malawi has been in
various areas, which include debt relief, One Village One Product (OVOP), Japan
Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) activities and development projects.
Said the Her
Excellency:
“Malawi
is proud to have received the highest number of Japanese volunteers, 1,600,
since the programme began in 1971 in Malawi. The volunteers have contributed to
the development of Malawi and enhanced our relations”.
On transport infrastructure, which the President
said is an impingement to Malawi’s domestic and international trade, she expressed
gratitude for the various transport infrastructure projects that the Japanese
Government has and is funding in Malawi.
The President observed that the Sena Corridor is
very important to the development efforts of Malawi and appealed to JICA to
favourably consider funding part of this project to ease the high
transportation costs that Malawi faces in imports and exports.
On the Nacala Corridor Initiative, which JICA are
already involved in, Her Excellency requested JICA to rehabilitate the Nacala
Railway Line for ease transportation of goods and people, adding the
rehabilitation of the Limbe-Lilongwe-Mchinji Railway would go a long way in
significantly reducing transport costs.
On his part, the JICA President paid tribute to Her
Excellency for her visionary leadership, which he said was a motivation for
JICA’s continued support and association with Malawi.
He pledged that the Japanese Government would
continue to assist Malawi in various ways, resources permitting.
