Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has said it would continue having dialogue with Malawi government on the Chileka Airport and Mtayamoyo Bridge among other projects the country is seeking support for.

JICA Executive Senior Vice President, Kazuhiko Koshikawa, said this in an interview on Wednesday in Yokohama, Japan, after he held a side meeting with Malawi’s vice president, Everton Chimulirenji, at the 2019 Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (TICAD7).

He described his meeting with the vice president as fruitful and that the Malawi government had asked for the Japanese government’s support on a number of projects including the Chileka Airport and Mtayamoyo Bridge.

“JICA is committed to continuing supporting Malawi and on the projects we will continue our dialogue with the Malawi government to see how best we can work together in implementing them,” Koshikawa pointed out.

He pointed out that Malawi as being among key countries in Africa that JICA is working with in a number of areas including education, infrastructure and power.

The JICA executive senior vice president added that Malawi as number one country in Africa that has absorbed and worked with more young Japanese volunteers over the years.

“Malawi is a very close country for JICA and for the Japanese people,” he said.

Official information sourced from JICA indicates that Malawi has worked with 1,874 young Japanese volunteers up to date and that, currently, 44 young Japanese volunteers are working in Malawi.

Malawi Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Francis Kasaila, who was among the Malawi government officials who accompanied the Vice President, hailed JICA for responding to the proposals Malawi government made during the meeting.

He said government would continue its engagement with JICA in various areas including human capacity development, trade, science and technology, which the Minister noted that Japanese have expertise in.

Other infrastructural projects that Malawi government is pushing for support from the Japanese government include the expansion of the road from Mchinji Round About in Lilongwe to Malawi Police Service’s C Company uptown to dual carriage and upgrading of Domasi Teacher’s Training College.

The Vice President is scheduled to have a number of side meetings during the TICAD7 which has brought together leaders of African countries or their representatives, African countries’ government officials, international organisations and investors at Pacifico Yokohama, the venue for the conference.