(* This is a provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only. The original text is in Japanese.)
Press Conference by Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba
Date: Wednesday, July 4, 2012, 5:55 a.m.
Place: Sendai International Center
Main topics:
- World Ministerial Conference on Disaster Reduction in Tohoku
1. World Ministerial Conference on Disaster Reduction in Tohoku
Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba: As you may already know, representatives from 63 countries and 14 international organizations attended the Conference. I think it was a great result of the Conference that we were able to send messages from the Tohoku region to the world on "Disaster Reduction in the 21st century". As for myself, during my two-day attendance at the Conference, I felt that we were able to share knowledge among the participants. I would like to express my gratitude to all the persons concerned, including the people of this region, for their support of the Conference.
At the Conference, we confirmed the importance of efforts on both hardware and software aspects, as well as support from the wide-ranging relevant actors. I think we were able to address the theme of "Wisdom of the World to the Disaster-Affected Areas, Lessons of the Disaster-Affected Areas to the World." I also think we were able to return a favor, in a way, to the world for the support we received from many countries following the Great East Japan Earthquake, even if only slightly.
Furthermore, I think it was good that the participants were directly able to see ongoing reconstruction in the affected areas. I would like to express my gratitude to the private corporations, civil organizations and local governments that supported side events and other occasions.
As frequently mentioned in the Conference, 90% of disaster victims globally are people in developing countries. It is the duty of the international community to attach importance to disaster reduction efforts on various phases of international cooperation and to mainstream disaster reduction. Japan would like to take the initiative in such efforts. A US$1 investment into disaster reduction can prevent damage worth US$7. We would like to make more efforts to build resilient societies in the world.
Reporter: Japan announced its candidacy to host the third United Nations (UN) World Conference on Disaster Reduction in 2015. Could you tell us how the Government of Japan will address disaster reduction?
Minister Gemba: We would like to take a leading role. To achieve this, we have announced a total of US$3 billion aid to be provided for three years from 2013. Since I have learned a lot through discussion on the details of the support, I would like to say that I strongly hope to utilize the disaster reduction technologies of Japan in the world. Terrestrial digital broadcasting is one of such technologies. In addition, as Minister Nakagawa mentioned, all the 27 Shinkansen trains running during the magnitude 9.0 earthquake on 11th March, reduced their speed as programmed. As a result, none of them ran off the rails. This was the proof of Japan’s superb technology. On the software front, we will start to provide support through the creation of a master plan for urban planning. We will implement the project by personnel dispatches and invitations, for that purpose. I think much has changed since March 11, both on the software and hardware aspects. I believe that since Japan experienced such a disaster as the one on March 11, there are unique contributions that only Japan can make. For that purpose, I am willing to make every effort to host the UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction in 2015.
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