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On April 5, 2018, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the Tokyo Conference on Supporting Job Creation and Vocational Training to Facilitate Weapons Reduction for Iraqi Society.

Before attending the conference, Prime Minister Abe first held a talk with H.E. Dr. Haider Al-Abadi, Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq.

The two leaders then attended the Tokyo Conference on Supporting Job Creation and Vocational Training to Facilitate Weapons Reduction for Iraqi Society.

The Prime Minister said in his opening address,

“I am honored to welcome all of you, including H.E. Dr. Haider Al-Abadi, Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq, as well as representatives from various countries and international organizations, to today’s Tokyo Conference on Supporting Job Creation and Vocational Training to Facilitate Weapons Reduction for Iraqi Society.

I would like to begin by offering my heartfelt condolences to all of the victims of ISIL, or Daesh.

I would like to express my sincere respect for Prime Minister al-Abadi and ask that all of you join me in applauding him for his exceptional leadership in regaining control of all areas of Iraq once controlled by Daesh.

However, the fight has yet to end. We can only achieve true victory when we create a vibrant and secure Iraq that will never again tolerate the emergence of violent extremist organizations, after this military victory.

The international community has already begun working on reconstruction for Iraq in the aftermath of Daesh, including holding an international conference in Kuwait this February. Japan, too, is committed to continuing its support such as humanitarian and stabilization assistance as well as yen loans aiming at rebuilding infrastructure.

I have heard that the people of Iraq refer to Japan as “Kawkab Al Yaban” in Arabic, which means a country on a different planet than Iraq. I was told that this expression is praise for Japan for its recovery from the Second World War and creation of a peaceful society and prosperous economy. This makes me very happy to hear.

Japan will newly take the lead in supporting Iraq to achieve a more peaceful society. Development is needed for the improvement of public security and vice versa. I hereby call on the international community to support the initiatives of the Iraqi Government using a new approach that regards public security and development as a whole.

Specifically, we must provide the people of Iraq with opportunities to secure a peaceful livelihood, and through this encourage them to surrender weapons to the Government voluntarily. This will make it possible to make the country safer by reducing the number of weapons spread throughout Iraqi society as well as lowering the dependence on and demand for weapons.

To achieve this goal, in the beginning, we would like to draw on the wisdom of the countries and international organizations in attendance today and carry out the necessary studies and analyses. Then, we would also like to establish a working group to incorporate these findings into specific policies and examine frameworks for assistance, including appropriate funding mechanisms.

Japan will support the efforts of the Government and people of Iraq as they work to create an Iraq that can be called “Kawkab Al Iraq” by other countries, utilizing our experiences in domestic weapons control and international assistance, along with our knowledge and experience of post-war recovery.

It is my sincere hope that today’s conference will mark the beginning of Iraq becoming a new model for the international community as a country that has overcome the destruction and suffering caused by terrorism, become a peaceful society and prosperous economy, and succeeded in reconstruction.”