“The issue of democracy and good governance should not be dictated from outside” Kinichi Komono, Ambassador of Japan

The Ethio-Japan relations date as far back as 1933. In 1960, the then Crown Prince and Princess of Japan (now the Emperor and Empress) visited Ethiopia. In 1956 and 1970, Emperor Haile Selassie I visited Japan. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has visited Japan three times. Ethiopia and Japan celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Restoration of Diplomatic Relations in 2005. Against this background SSI’s Hallelujah Lulie caught up with Japanese ambassador to Ethiopia and discussed on issues regarding aid, the UN, Africa and regional topics. Excerpts:

SSI: The Ethio- Japan diplomatic relations recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, How do you generally asses the bilateral relations between the two states in the past half century?
Ambr Komono: last year coincided with the 50th anniversary of the start of the diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Japan. The two countries had a very good relation in all aspects. We can divide our relationship into three categories, the first is development cooperation, the second is trade& investment and exchange of personnel’s is the third.

Regarding development cooperation Ethiopia had a very good relations with Japan. In the years between 2002-2004 the amount of annual development aid was 35-40 million USD and now although we don’t have the exact figure from the year 2006 as it is just two months for the recent calendar year I suppose it has reached the level of around 57-60 million USD including debt cancellation.

SSI: what are the major areas Japanese aid to Ethiopia focus on?
Amb. Komono: The key area in the development corporations in this country is human security. human security is the key word in our aid programme to this country. It is to put human beings and the community in the center of our potential and cooperation. These people need various kinds of fundamental things in order to enjoy a decent life, not only water and food but also education, health and job opportunities. We focus on agriculture development, education, health and other essential areas. We also believe that good governance and community based development are vital for national economic growth.

SSI: Japan is the second largest trade partner to Ethiopia but the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow to Ethiopia is very weak and incomparable to the growing trade ties, how do you explain this?
Amb. Komono: you are right. This is the only weak point in the comprehensive bilateral relations of Ethiopia and Japan. There is no investment project as such unfortunately.

Investors whoever they are in the United States and Europe have so many potential destinations in this respect. There is a competition among developing countries as destinations of investment. Ethiopia is one of them and because of this severe competition in terms of attracting foreign investment it should continue improving investment conditions. I am committed in quick dissemination of information about what is happening in this country and as an investment destination.

Trade is one thing and investment is another, by extending the trade and investment we can be mutually benefited, which is fundamental of our relations, so not only myself but also my counterpart in Tokyo, the Ethiopian ambassador to Japan is keen in expanding relations in terms of not only trade but also investment. When we ask why the investment is left behind it is because of geographical distance and lack of information regarding the recent developments in this country and investment conditions in this country have not reached [levels] as expected but the investment situation in this country is changing quickly as well as fundamentally so many investors are coming from Europe, the United States and others so I think we should try to provide decent information about this country to Japanese investors.

The trade relations between the two countries is expanding and in a very much balanced way. In the year 2005 we exported 73 million USD to Ethiopia and also Japan imported 72 million USD from this country. It is very much balanced.
SSI: Japan is a major donor for the UN international peacekeeping activities, do you have any plans to solve the Ethio-Eritrean border conflict?
Amb. Komono: I served as the ambassador of Japan to Afghanistan after September 11, so I am aware of the importance of the security as the foundation for development .Without security any development effort will fail. Security is foundation for development and prosperity and it is also true in this part of the world, the Horn of Africa so the whole region. It is good for both countries if they dialogue and work together. Both can be benefited from peaceful relations as the people know each other very well. Japan is strongly wishing of good situations created as quickly as possible we want to support the two nations if there is any chance.

SSI: How is Japan’s Security Council bid going on?
Amb. Komono: As our Prime Minster Shinzo Abe his father as a foreign Minster visited this country before twenty years ago and though unfortunately he has never been to this country I hope he will follow the foot of his father in the future. It is my personal ambition.

Prime minister Abe repeatedly announced publicly and very clearly about the Japanese wish to do its best on the UN over all reform. 60 years passed since the its establishment and the security situation of the world dramatically changed, therefore UN structure should be adjusted to better address the new issues hence the reform of the security council as the main programme of keeping and creating peace in the world. Abe is committed to attain this reform of the UN in general and the Security Council in particular.

And also there is a strong will for the Japanese permanent membership in the Security Council so that Japan can better contribute to the peace and security of the world. The government made a new proposal for the reform of the Security Council which the Japanese government will announce soon.
African countries share the same idea with Japan regarding the seat in the Security Council reform because Africa is not represented in the Security Council as its power in the world. So we share and appreciate African to be more active in the Security Council reform. Africa and Japan are in the same board and can work together in this regard.

SSI: Before a couple of months more than 53 African heads of states were gathered in Beijing for the Sino African meeting ,and the economic, political and social ties between china and the African continent is getting strong. Do you think that that is a threat for African Japan relations?
Amb. Komono: first of all it is a fact Chinese participation in African development have energized the development process in Africa. Japan initiated TICAD (Tokyo International Conference for African Development), an international conference for African development 14 years ago when the traditional donors were fatigue of the African development. In the 1990s the traditional donors felt tired of continuing supporting Africa because of many difficulties like so many coups, conflicts absolute poverty, HIV/AIDS and no success stories and more. During that period Japan initiated the TICAD conference in order to robust the international community commitment for the African development and since then we organized three conferences of TICAD and the next year we are going to host the forth one.

Now after fourteen years in terms of the international commitment for the African development is very successful, not only the traditional donors like the United States and European countries but also China, India and Latin America are all here in the African continent to support the development of African countries. China’s participation in the African development effort is a new factor for pushing ahead the development ahead therefore it should be welcomed.
Many African countries are becoming democratic there are a lot of ceasefire and peace agreements and the economy of many African countries is growing in an annual rate of more than 5 %. This is good news but still there is chronic poverty, high prevalence ratio of HIV/AIDS and other problems. And in terms of the human suffering and poverty the situation is still faraway from the rest of the world and the satisfactory level and this cannot be done only by Africans international supported needed. So China’s participation in African development cannot be a tradeoff for japan going out.

SSI: Ethiopia is preparing for the celebrating its millennium. How is Japan supporting the process of democratization, good governance and realization of human rights and other related issues in Ethiopia?
Amb. Komono: I agree to the opinion of the Ethiopian government and the people that they consider millennium as a good chance for changing the image of the country. In the past millennium Ethiopia was associated with famine, poverty, coups and other bad images of every kind. Now the government and people of Ethiopia are strongly determined to change this image. At this point people are discussing how to make use of this occasion .The change of the image of the country requires substantial changes in different aspects like democracy and participation of the people.

The issue of democracy and good governance should not be dictated from outside, they should be addressed by the Ethiopian people themselves. But countries like Japan and other democratic states can provide with their experiences to the Ethiopian leaders and people.
SSI: Are there any plans by Japan for the stabilization and reconstruction of Somalia?

Amb. Komono: I believe the Somalia people should grasp this golden opportunity for the reconstruction of their country which is critical for the whole region. We understand clearly that the issue is critical not only for Somalia and Ethiopia but the whole Horn of African region this needs establishment of democratic institutions which cannot be done only by the Somali people surely they require the help of the international community.
Japan wants to contribute for the reconstruction in different ways. In my experience in Afghanistan I learned that in order to reconstruct a failed state peacekeeping and security, disarmaments, union of combatant forces, establishing of democratic institutions and development assistant are key to stabilization.

Military contribution of Japan in Somalia is out of question based upon our constitution. we sent our national defense forces to Iraq but the purpose was to support the humanitarian assistance. Japan will participate in the development and reconstruction of Somalia including of a democratic institutions humanitarian development aid.

SSI: How do you asses the cultural exchange between Ethiopian and Japan?
Amb. Komono: The two countries have so many things in the cultural field which is exemplified by tea ceremony in Japan and cofeee ceremony in Japan. In spite of the geographical distance surprisingly we share a lot of things in our culture and there are efforts in both countries to enhance the cultural foundations.