Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly arrived in Tunisia's Conferences Palace on Saturday to attend the opening session of the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8) on behalf of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. Tunisian President Kais Saied and Prime Minister of Tunisia Naglaa Bouden received Madbouly, who will be attending the conference that will run from 27 to 28 August. The Prime Minister is scheduled to deliver a speech during the first plenary session discussing economic issues. Madbouly will also hold a number of bilateral meetings on the side-lines of his participation in the summit. For his part, President Saied expressed his happiness for the high-level Egyptian participation in the TICAD8. Furthermore, Madbouly congratulated the Tunisian president on the success of the latest constitutional referendum, wishing the sisterly Tunisia continued progress and stability under the leadership of President Saied. The PM also pointed out the importance of the TICAD conference as an international platform that deals with development issues in Africa. The Japanese government has been leading the TICAD since 1993 in partnership with the UN, UN Development Programme, World Bank, and African Union Commission. In July 2020, the Japanese government announced that that the TICAD8 would be held in 2022 and be hosted by Tunisia.
