Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi have agreed to support the early resumption of natural gas development in the East African country.

Kishida met with Nyusi in the capital Maputo for about ninety minutes on Thursday. The prime minister was on the final leg of his tour of four African nations.

The two leaders discussed a natural gas project in northern Mozambique in which a Japanese trading firm has invested. The project has been halted due to the worsening security situation in the nation.

Kishida and Nyusi discussed ways to stabilize the situation for the early resumption of the project.

The two agreed that it is important to maintain and reinforce the international order based on the rule of law in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They said they are opposed to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force.

They pledged that Japan and Mozambique — both non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — will work hand-in-hand.

Kishida said at a joint news conference that he and the Mozambican leader agreed to strengthen bilateral ties to realize “a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

The prime minister stated that they will support efforts to resume construction of production facilities for the liquefied natural gas development project — one of the largest in Africa.

He added that Japan is willing to provide assistance to stabilize the region.

Source : NHK World