The former Prime Minister also chaired successive Japan-Ethiopia Industrial Policy Dialogues and introduced the Kaizen philosophy into Ethiopia. Desalegn co-chaired TICAD V (2013) with PM Shinzo Abe and contributed to the adoption of the Yokohama Declaration as well as the Yokohama Action Plan 2013-2017. In TICAD V, he contributed to Africa’s ownership-enhancement, the alignment between development plans in Africa and the TICAD process, and the promotion of the dialogue between the African and Japanese private sectors. Following the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, then Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister expressed his sympathies with the disaster victims and handed over donations from the Ethiopian people. Desalegn was also credited for promoting Japan’s private sector investment into Ethiopia.

Source: Ethiopian News May 22, 2019 00:00 UTC