Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Friday agreed to continue close coordination between the two countries on the current situation in the Middle East, Japan's Foreign Ministry said. During their talks in Tokyo, Kishida said Japan is paying close attention to the ongoing situation in the Middle East with great interest and concern, expressing Japan's support to the efforts made by Egypt with regard to the situation surrounding Gaza, the ministry said in a press release. Describing Egypt "a highly important partner to Japan," the premier said that Cairo plays an important role for peace and stability in the Middle East and African regions. Both sides also vowed to further promote cooperation toward African countries in coordination with each other, in addition to the bilateral cooperation. For his part, Abdelatty handed over Egyptian President Abdulfattah Al-Sisi's letter to Kishida, and expressed his expectation for further developing the bilateral relatio ns, according to the ministry. Source: Kuwait News Agency