CAIRO
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Saturday that his country will provide humanitarian and military aid to Middle East countries to the tune of $2.5 billion in the coming phase.
"This aid will be directed to improve infrastructure and military fields," Abe remarked during his speech at the Egyptian-Japanese Business Forum, which was held Saturday in Egyptian capital Cairo.
The prime minister also announced that his country will provide Egypt with $360 million in soft loans to aid with transportation and renewable energy projects.
Moreover, Abe urged the businessmen delegation in his company to strengthen cooperation with the Egyptian side and to create new trade and economic partnerships with their counterparts in the North African nation.
The Japanese premiere also pointed out to his country's assistance to Egypt in the construction of the under-construction Grand Egyptian Museum near the pyramids of Giza, the Japanese university, and the Cairo Opera House.
He added that Japan will strongly participate in a major economic summit, which will be held in March with the aim of encouraging international investment in Egypt.
Abe also invited Egypt to participate in the third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, which is hosted by Tokyo in March 2015.
There are 61 Japanese companies currently operating in Egypt with investments totaling $203 million, Hassan Fahmi, who heads Egypt's General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, said last year.
At the time, Fahmi had also said an agreement had been reached with the Japanese side to re-launch the business council's activities, which have been suspended since 2008.
The Japanese PM arrived in Cairo on Friday and is scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi later Saturday.
