Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Addis Ababa Wednesday his country is desirous to further strengthen its cooperation with Japan in trade and investment sectors.

During his talks with Japanese Foreign Affairs Senior Vice Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki, Meles said the bilateral cooperation between the two countries has grown from time to time.

He said the Japanese government is assisting Ethiopia in its infrastructural development activities, adding the people and government of Ethiopia appreciate the assistance being provided by the Japanese government for the construction of Gohatsion-Dejen road and Abay bridge in particular.

He expressed hope that the Japanese government would continue to extend its assistance to Ethiopia, according to a spokesperson of Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry.

After their talks, Shiozaki told a press conference that they discussed the meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which will be held here on Thursday.

The Japanese senior official also said they discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries and UN reform, among others.

Shiozaki expressed hope that the TICAD meeting, which would discuss ways of consolidating peace to bring about sustainable development in Africa, would help achieve important results.

Source: Xinhua