Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sewilam arrived in Tokyo on Monday, July 27, 2026, at the start of an official visit to Japan, following a special invitation from the Japanese Prime Minister's special envoy to the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, Yoko Kamikawa, and Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the minister responsible for water cycle policy Yasushi Kaneko.
During the visit, Sewilam is scheduled to participate in the international ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of Japan's Water Day, hold bilateral talks with Kamikawa and senior Japanese government officials, oversee the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Egyptian and Japanese sides and conduct field visits to Japanese water facilities and research centers.
The minister began his visit with a tour of the Tone River management system to examine Japan's experience in operating and managing water infrastructure using advanced digital technologies. Sewilam received a briefing on the system, which serves the Greater Tokyo area through an integrated network of dams, barrages, canals and flood protection facilities, supported by real-time operation and control systems that ensure water supplies for domestic, agricultural and industrial uses while enhancing protection against floods and torrential rains.
He also reviewed Japan's integrated water resources management and allocation mechanisms, as well as its remote monitoring, measurement and control systems, decision-support tools and early warning systems, all of which rely on advanced digital technologies for water management and operations.
During the visit, the two sides exchanged views on a number of technical issues related to the operation and management of the system, water allocation among different sectors and environmental monitoring associated with the river. Sewilam said the visit provides an opportunity to examine Japanese best practices in managing and operating water infrastructure and assess how they could support efforts to modernize Egypt's water resources management system in line with the objectives of the country's Second Generation Water System (2.0).
He also expressed the ministry's aspiration to strengthen technical cooperation with Japanese institutions responsible for managing the Tone River system and to exchange expertise in smart operation of water facilities, integrated water resources management, digital transformation and technical capacity building, with the aim of improving the efficiency of Egypt's water infrastructure and benefiting from international best practices.
The Inauguration of the State Strategic Command Headquarters “The Octagon” in the New Capital The Inauguration of the State Strategic Command Headquarters “The Octagon” in the New Capital