Signing of Agreement concerning Japan's Contribution for the ASEAN Foundation (Solidarity Fund)

January 28, 1999

The signing of diplomatic notes concerning Japan's contribution of 20 million dollars for the ASEAN Foundation (Solidarity Fund) took place on January 28 (Thu.) in Jakarta, Indonesia, between Mr. Takao Kawakami, Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia, and Mr. Ridzwan Dzafir, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ASEAN Foundation. At the same time, a host country agreement, which gives the Foundation the legal status of an international organization, was signed between the ASEAN Foundation and the Government of Indonesia.
The establishment of the Solidarity Fund of 20 million dollars was announced in a policy speech delivered by the then Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi in May 1998 in Singapore. In his policy speech made in Hanoi on December 16, 1998, Mr. Obuchi, now Prime Minister, stated his hope that the Fund would be put to effective use for education, human resources development, business exchanges and other activities that would contribute to ASEAN's development and the strengthening of Japan-ASEAN cooperation.
Specific use of the Fund will be discussed between the Government of Japan and the ASEAN Foundation. The Government of Japan, for its part, considers that the Fund could be usefully used for such activities as joint studies on the Asian economic crisis, assistance for the strengthening of higher education in ASEAN, assistance for business ties between Japanese companies and local companies, and development of and assistance for regional projects.

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