*South Sudan President Kiir eyes 1st visit to Japan in June * *Kyodo **Juba, 12/04/13 *- South Sudanese President Salva Kiir intends to visit Japan to attend a major conference on African development in June, Marial Benjamin, the country's information minister, told Kyodo News on Friday.
This will be his first visit to Japan since South Sudan became independent from Sudan in July 2011 after more than two decades of civil war. Japan is apparently hoping that his visit will help strengthen its ties with the country known for its rich petroleum resources. About 350 members of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force have been involved in road construction and other works at the South Sudanese capital Juba as part of the U.N. peacekeeping operations. Japan is also considering opening its embassy in the country. Japan, along with international organizations, is hosting the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama city. South African President Jacob Zuma and Malawi President Joyce Banda have expressed their intention to participate in the upcoming conference. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
