Japan-Nepal Summit Meeting
(Summary)
August 25, 2000
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
On August 25, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori met with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala of Nepal at the Prime Minister's Office. The meeting, which lasted from 13:00 to 14:00, is summarized below.
1. Bilateral Relations
Prime Minister Mori expressed the hope that Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal would visit Japan in the near future and that this would lead to further development of the friendly relations enjoyed by the two countries.
Prime Minister Koirala thanked Prime Minister Mori for visiting South Asia so soon after taking office and declared that he wanted to use the opportunity afforded by the visit as a springboard to even closer ties in the twenty-first century.
Prime Minister Mori said that, in order to expand youth exchange with the countries of South Asia, over a five-year period Japan would invite 5,000 young people, including high-school students, to visit the country. He added that in order to promote exchange in the South Asian region Japan would implement Japan-South Asia exchange programs, part of which would be the establishment of the so-called Mori Fellowship.
2. Economy and Economic Cooperation
Noting that Japan has aided Nepal in the fields of agriculture, human-resources development, and disaster relief, Prime Minister Mori expressed the desire to continue actively supporting Nepal. He requested that the security of Japanese personnel engaged in economic and technical cooperation be fully guaranteed.
Prime Minister Koirala expressed his thanks for the $300,000 in emergency grant aid that Japan provided to help Nepal overcome flood damage and for the grant aid, including for the project for Construction of Primary Schools, the exchange of notes of which was signed earlier in the day (August 25).
Prime Minister Mori announced that Japan had decided the supply of equipment for exhibition at the National Museum of Nepal as part of its cultural grant aid for fiscal 2000.
Prime Minister Mori said that requests for economic cooperation from Nepal to help river management and establish bridges to local communities and build a Katmandu-Terai road should be examined in detail. Regarding the Melamchi water-supply project, he said that Japan was making preparations to support the project.
3. G8 Kyushu-Okinawa Summit
Prime Minister Mori announced that at the Summit about $15 billion over five years was earmarked for inclusive IT cooperation efforts, with priority given to Asian countries. He also explained that $3 billion was promised for cooperation in the fight against infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, with the subject being countries including Nepal.
Prime Minister Mori said that Japan was planning to receive a total of 50 people from Nepal in the coming two years with a view to supporting improvements in information technology.
4. South Asia
Prime Minister Koirala said that Nepal, which is located near three nuclear countries, was concerned about the nuclear tests that were conducted in 1998 and that he expected the task of improving the security environment in the region to be carried out on the basis of dialogue and treaties. At the same time, he said Nepal was striving to maintain friendly relations with all three nations--China, India, and Pakistan.
Regarding the issue of Bhutanese Refugees, Prime Minister Mori said that Japan wanted to provide indierct support to U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata, whose term of office comes to an end this year. Prime Minister Koirala expressed thanks for the aid Japan has provided recently for refugee camps in Nepal through the UNHCR ($1.3 million) and the World Food Program ($1 million).
5. Other Topics
Prime Minister Mori noted that Nepal has signed but not yet ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and urged the country to ratify it at the earliest opportunity.
Prime Minister Mori requested Nepal's cooperation with regard to reform of the United Nations. Prime Minister Koirala responded by saying that the body should reflect the views of both developed and developing countries and that the number of both permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council should be increased.
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