Press Conference by the Press Secretary 18 June, 1999

1. Grant Aid to Albania
2. Dispatch of a Political Affairs Officer to the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA)
3. Dispatch of a Political Affairs Officer to the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET)
4. G8 Summit in Cologne

1. Grant Aid to Albania

   Deputy Press Secretary Masaki Okada: Good afternoon. At the beginning, I would like to make two short announcements. The first one relates to Japan's assistance to the Republic of Albania. The Government of Japan has decided to extend grant assistance totaling 1.3 billion yen to the Government of the Republic of Albania, with a view to helping the country to improve its economic structure, to ease debt problems and other economic difficulties, and to increase food production. Notes to this effect were exchanged on 16 July in Tirana, by Mr. Yushu Takashima, Japanese Ambassador to Albania, with Mr. Pascal Milo, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, for the non-project grant aid, and with Mr. Lufter Xhuveli, Minister of Agriculture, for increase of food production.

   At present, more than 440,000 Albanian residents in Kosovo have fled into Albania to escape the worsening Kosovo crisis, imposing a heavy strain upon Albania's economy. The present grant assistance is being extended to help the country recover from this pressure as part of the assistance worth about US$200 million that the Government of Japan announced on 27 April for Kosovo refugees.

   I want to add a comment to this. Within this US$200 million assistance for the refugees from Kosovo, for the neighboring countries and future restoration of the area, we foresee about US$60 million to assist the neighboring countries, namely Albania and Macedonia. As for Macedonia, we have already concluded four exchange notes concerning food production assistance and non-project grant assistance, totaling nearly 2.5 billion yen. These two comprise the first assistance extended to Albania after we announced the assistance in April.

   Related Information (Japan-Albania Relations)
   
2. Dispatch of a Political Affairs Officer to the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA)

   Deputy Press Secretary Masaki Okada: In response to a request from the United Nations, the Government of Japan decided today to dispatch Mr. Koichiro Tanaka, a specialist on the Middle Eastern region, to Pakistan as a political affairs officer of the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA). Recognizing that achieving peace in Afghanistan will contribute to the peace and stability as well as to the economic prosperity, not only of that country but of the whole region, Japan has been proactively supplementing and assisting UN peace efforts in Afghanistan. Japan also dispatched Mr. Hiroshi Takahashi to the UNSMA from October 1996 to June 1998.

   Related Information (Japan-Afghanistan Relations)
   
3. Dispatch of a Political Affairs Officer to the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET)

   Deputy Press Secretary Masaki Okada: The Government of Japan also decided to dispatch another official to another mission, namely Mr. Noboru Nomura, First Secretary of the Embassy of Japan in the Netherlands, to East Timor as a political officer of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET). These are the recent decisions made by the Government of Japan.

   Related Information (Japan-Indonesia Relations)
   
4. G8 Summit in Cologne

   Q: Concerning the Summit in Cologne, do you know with which leaders from the G8 Mr. Obuchi will meet during his visit?

   Mr. Okada: As of now, we are still coordinating the schedule in Cologne. Therefore, nothing has been decided officially, yet. As you might know, we have been trying to make an appointment with President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation. If possible, we are also going to have a meeting with President William Jefferson Clinton of the United States of America. As far as I understand, nothing has been officially decided, yet.

   Related Information (Cologne Summit)