JAPANESE-FRENCH JOINT COMMUNIQUÉ ON DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE

Aware of growing risk that current globalisation trends are leading to marginalisation of many developing countries, especially the poorest countries, the Prime Ministers of Japan and the French Republic reconfirm the shared expectation which underpins their countries' development assistance policies, that they will achieve sustainable development based on ownership of developing countries and on partnership.

1. Shared Commitment to Development Assistance :

　- The Governments of Japan and France reaffirm the importance of Development Partnership Strategy of the OECD Development Assistance Committee in the future development assistance and share the view that all countries should jointly achieve quantified goals in the reduction of poverty, and that support for ensuring economic growth with equity is important for this purpose. The Governments of Japan and France, world's two major donors, are determined to co-operate with each other to this end.

　- The Governments of Japan and France confirm that they share fundamental views on the ways of development assistance and stress that they will continue close co-operation for the solution of development issues :

2. Debt Relief Initiative :

　- The Governments of Japan and France welcome the unprecedented effort for debt reduction, which will take place as part of the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiatives decided at the Cologne G8 Summit. They emphasise the importance of their contributions in the form of financing of international financial institutions as well as reduction of bilateral debts.

　- The Governments of Japan and France stress the principle of fair burden sharing, including that of bilateral debt reduction. They are particularly concerned about the difficulties that have emerged in the implementation of this principle and hope that results achieved in this initiative will be reviewed in the follow-up of the Cologne Summit.

　- The Governments of Japan and France will make sure that the principle of ownership will be fully applied to the implementation of the debt initiative. The debt relief initiative should target those applying countries that effectively commit themselves to adequate economic management strategies, including efforts for promoting debt management capacities, to a long-term eradication of poverty and to compliance with the fundamental principles of good governance.

　- The Governments of Japan and France pay attention to the fact that solving the debt issue is not enough to achieve development of developing countries. The overall development issue should be tackled further, in particular following examples of successful experiences among developing countries.

3. Japan-France Aid Co-ordination :

　- The Governments of Japan and France reaffirm the role of a regular aid policy dialogue between their administrations and agencies in charge of development assistance and intend to deepen their bilateral policy co-ordination, in particular through exchanges of personnel.

　- The Governments of Japan and France confirm their determination to intensify their assistance co-ordination, especially in Africa, in line with the conclusions of the Tokyo Agenda for Action of the TICAD II (Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development), as well as in Asia, in the health sector, where convergence between French and Japanese approaches is greatest, as well as in the sectors of education, rural development, the environment and infrastructures. They will identify countries in which they will pursue assistance co-ordination and instruct their embassies to concretely co-ordinate at a local level.

　- The Governments of Japan and France are concerned about the social and economic impact of the AIDS epidemic, in particular in Africa, and about the effect of malaria, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis and other infectious and parasitic diseases on the people of developing countries. They share the conviction that action against the epidemic should include strengthening prevention, treatment policies and improvement of health systems. France has proposed to the international community the creation of programmes targeted at treating the AIDS disease, with a priority on reducing the infection of children through their mothers. For this purpose, an International Therapeutic Solidarity Fund has been set up following France's initiative, with the participation of other countries and in conjunction with WHO and UNAIDS. The Government of Japan welcomed the positive attitude of France and expressed its intention to promote co-operation with France and other partners in the areas of tackling AIDS and other infectious and parasitic diseases.