Press Conference 10 June 2005
- 12th town meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- High-Level Forum on Health MDGs in Asia and the Pacific
- Japanese grant aid projects
- Guests and national/special days of the 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan (11 - 17 June)
- 12th town meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Assistant Press Secretary Akira Chiba: Today, I would like to make four announcements.
The first announcement concerns the 12th town meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The 12th town meeting of the Foreign Ministry will be held on 16 July in Osaka. The town meeting will be attended by Minister for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura and Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shuzen Tanigawa, who will engage in discussion with the general public on the theme of United Nations (UN) Security Council reform and Asia diplomacy.
Those wishing to participate are asked to apply by e-mail, fax or mail to the Foreign Ministry. In case there are many requests, there will be a drawing.
- High-Level Forum on Health MDGs in Asia and the Pacific
Mr. Chiba: The second announcement concerns the High-Level Forum on Health MDGs in Asia and the Pacific.
Japan will host the "High-Level Forum on Health MDGs in Asia and the Pacific" from 21 to 22 June, 2005, in Tokyo, in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO), with the participation of minister-level officials in charge of health, finance, or development from 24 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, six major donor countries, and international organizations. The aim of the Forum is to enhance international cooperation by sharing good practices and lessons learned to achieve health MDGs in the Asia-Pacific region.
At the Forum, Japan intends to present successful cases of its official development assistance (ODA) projects, emphasize the importance of the "human security" perspectives, and promote the significance of regional cooperation to achieve health MDGs. In the "Okinawa Infectious Diseases Initiative" announced in 2000, Japan expressed its commitment to enhance assistance with the target of allocating a total of US$3.0 billion over the next five years. Japan, having contributed approximately US$4.1 billion in the four years between 2000 and 2003, over-achieved this target. Japan will continue to strengthen its assistance to achieve health MDGs.
The outcome of this High-Level Forum will be compiled into a document and submitted to the upcoming Group of Eight (G8) Gleneagles Summit in July and the High-level Plenary Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the Millennium Declaration in September.
- Japanese grant aid projects
Mr. Chiba: The third announcement concerns several grant aid projects to be provided to three different countries.
The first, in order to contribute to the Project for Construction of Sindhuli Road in the Kingdom of Nepal, the Government of Japan decided to provide up to 2.588 billion yen in a span of three years, and the exchange of notes was done yesterday between Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Tsutomu Hiraoka and Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Bhanu Prasad Acharya of His Majesty's Government of Nepal in Kathmandu.
At the signing ceremony, Ambassador Hiraoka requested his counterpart to recover peace and stability as soon as possible based on multiparty democracy and constitutional monarchy of that country.
This project is extended under the recognition that it will contribute greatly to the alleviation of poverty and social inequality, which lie at the basis of the Maoist issue in Nepal.
The next is the provision of grant aid to the Republic of Palau in order to contribute to the Project for Improvement of Interisland Access Road. The Government of Japan decided to provide up to 325 million yen to the Republic of Palau, and notes were exchanged yesterday in Koror.
Finally, the provision of grant aid to the Republic of Guinea to contribute to the Project of Provision of Potable Water in the rural region of central Guinea and the Project of Production of Potable Water in Conakry. The Government of Japan decided to provide up to 1.387 billion yen, and notes were exchanged on 8 June in Conakry.
This assistance is provided as part of the support towards Africa, which Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced at the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD III) in 2003.
- Guests and national/special days of the 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan (11 - 17 June)
Mr. Chiba: The last announcement concerns the regular announcement on the dignitaries visiting Japan for the coming week for the 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan.
Firstly, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Somsavat Lengsavad of Lao People's Democratic Republic will visit Japan from 10 to 14 June to attend the National Day event on 13 June at the Expo site. Secondly, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium will visit Japan from 12 to 18 June to attend the National Day event on 14 June at the Expo site. Thirdly, Prime Minister Daniel Kenzhetayevich Akhmetov of the Republic of Kazakhstan will visit Japan from 13 to 16 June to attend the National Day event on 15 June at the Expo site. Fourthly, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation Youssouf Ouedraogo of Burkina Faso will visit Japan from 15 to 18 June to attend the National Day event on 16 June at the Expo site. Lastly, Minister of Education and Science Fursenko Andrei Aleksandrovich of the Russian Federation will visit Japan from 16 to 20 June to attend the National Day event on 17 June at the Expo site.
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