Egypt, Jordan and Japan agree to increase co-operation on peace, energy and education

The countries met on Wednesday at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo

This picture shows a view of the Arab-Japanese political dialogue at the Arab League in Cairo on September 5. AFP

Energy, peace, security and education were at the top of the agenda during the ministerial summit between the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Jordanian and Japanese counterparts Ayman Al Safadi and Yoshimasa Hayashi at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo.

Egypt, Japan and Jordan have pledged to "further expand the trilateral co-operation to a broader spectrum of areas, which would benefit more countries in the region, and go beyond the current trilateral regional co-operation pilot projects in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq," a joint statement said.

Japan has partnered with Jordan and Egypt on three pilot projects, which were mentioned during Wednesday's meeting.

The first is a 2022 project to connect the power grids of Jordan and Iraq. The project, which is supported by Tokyo, is still under way.

Japan's support of Arab efforts to increase exports from the Palestinian territories is the second pilot project, the statement said.

Tokyo had also agreed to open a number of schools in Lebanon modelled after the 48 Egyptian schools that began implementing elements of the Japanese system since 2018.

Education has been a significant area of co-operation between Japan and Egypt since President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s visit to Tokyo in 2016, where he met with then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The foreign ministers also discussed achieving “peace, security and stability in the Middle East”.

“The Ministers underscored their support for the right to self-determination for the Palestinian people, and underlined the illegality of Israeli settlement activities, and that Israel must fully stop and comply with relevant UN resolutions,” read the statement.

The meeting also discussed the necessity of providing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East with funds in light of the ongoing aid crisis the UN arm is experiencing.