Statement by H.E. Mr. Yohei Kono, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs On the occasion of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee Meeting

Tokyo, October 15, 1999

President Arafat,
Minister Vollebak,
Vice Minister Massalha,
Ladies and gentlemen,

As the co-chair of the meeting, and on behalf of the Japanese Government, I should like to express my heartfelt welcome to the participants, and would like to officially open the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee meeting in Tokyo.

With the conclusion of the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum on the 4th of September, we are witnessing a rise in the tide of hope towards a progress in the Middle East peace process. I would like to reiterate the importance of holding a meeting on the assistance to the Palestinians at such a crucial time. It is becoming ever more vital for the Palestinians, Israelis and the international donor community to work together and consolidate our support for the same goal of peace in the region, and for the prosperity which is to be shared amongst the Palestinians and their neighbors.

Recognizing that Japan is located more than 10,000km apart from the Middle East, I believe the sheer fact that so many participants gathered here for the meeting today itself proves the strong commitment and support of the international community to the Middle East peace process. With the commitment and efforts of all the participants around the table, I would like to make this meeting a great success and I sincerely wish to have your support in this regard.

Ladies and gentlemen,
The international donor community has implemented some US$2.5 billion of aid to the Palestinian people for the past six years since the signing of the Oslo Accord in September 1993. Japan on its part has implemented a total amount of around US$500 million of aid since then and further pledged to extend up to US$200 million for the next two years.

Specifically, Japan has disbursed US$72 million since the beginning of 1999, and I signed yesterday, together with Minister Nabil Sha'ath, the Exchange of Notes committing additional US$15 million of grant on the "Construction of Elementary and Junior High Schools in the West Bank". Also, we have decided to mobilize another US$20 million through the UNDP. These together will amount to over US$100 million of aid for 1999 alone. Further, acknowledging the opening of the Safe Passage later this week, Japan will dispatch a survey mission to explore the possibility of our assistance in the road and transportation sector.

At the same time, while being aware of other donors with various plans in their aid implementation, I would like to call upon other donor countries to continue their efforts to disburse their commitments and bring about tangible outcomes of aid. Also, it is equally important to secure the effectiveness and efficiency of aid implementation. In this respect, there will be reports at today's sessions on evaluation of the past aid to the Palestinians and effective implementation of aid, which have been prepared in accordance with our proposal.

As the budgetary situations are severe among the donor community, we must also urge the Palestinians to intensify their self-support measures, especially to strengthen the administrative capacity of the Palestinian Authority. Human resource development will be the top priority to this end. In this respect, Japan recently decided to dispatch our technical assistance experts directly to the Palestinian Authority. We expect that the increase in the local technology transfer through our experts will be beneficial for more effective assistance in the region.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
In addition to the official development assistance, there will be a greater need for private sector activities such as direct investment for the sustainable economic development in the region. Japan also intends to follow up on this aspect. Also, nurturing confidence and promoting dialogues between the Palestinians and Israelis at the civilian level is extremely important. In this regard, Japan has been conducting a program since three years ago to invite ten youngsters each from both sides to facilitate intensive and intimate exchange of views. I have invited the participants in this year's program to this conference hall today, and I am eager to continue this program for the years to come, in the full belief that such intimate dialogues will be beneficial for the future relationship of the two parties.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
During my previous tenure as Foreign Minister, I had the honor to attend the signing ceremony of the Interim Agreement and the ministerial-level conference for assistance to the Palestinians. I recall the sentiment and the spirit of cooperation shared by the participants as if they were held yesterday. Subsequently, there was the tragic event which led to the sudden loss of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and I was at his state funeral service. I strongly wished, as I recall, that his strong will for peace be inherited not only by the Israelis but also by all parties concerned through persistent dialogues, and that I myself could contribute to the extent possible to the peace in the region.

I was deeply impressed by President Arafat, Prime Minister Barak and other peace negotiators' resoluteness with which they engage themselves to drive the peace process forward. Japan will not spare any possible efforts to move ahead with the peace process, and in doing so, we attach special emphasis on the following points.

Firstly, Japan supports the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum and call upon the relevant parties to strive for the implementation of the memorandum. Japan considers it vital to secure on-time implementation of the Sharm memorandum in order to keep the momentum of the ongoing peace process. Moreover, Japan hopes that just, lasting and comprehensive peace will be achieved in the Middle East region through final status negotiations. Japan will not only continue its economic assistance to the Palestinians and other parties, but also wishes to play a greater role in the political aspects.

Secondly, I think that the multilateral tracks and the bilateral tracks are, so to speak, two wheels of a wagon. There is a need, I believe, to reactivate the process of the multilateral negotiations to keep the incentives for the bilateral negotiations. Japan would like to play an active role as the Gavelholder of the Working Group on Environment and the Shepherd of the Tourism Workshop.

Thirdly, settlement on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks is essential in order to achieve a comprehensive peace. In this juncture, Japan welcomes Prime Minister Barak's repeated reference to the withdrawal from the Southern Lebanon within one year period. Taking fully into account the Japanese Four- Point Proposal on the Southern Lebanon, I strongly hope that the negotiations will be resumed shortly by the efforts of the relevant parties.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my great pleasure to be able to host the AHLC meeting for the first time in Japan and thus be able to make a contribution to the realization of the peace in the Middle East. I have visited the region several times, and I am well aware that diverse religions, cultures, and ethnic groups have co-existed in the region. It has a history and tradition where people with divergent background actively communicated with one another and kept their prosperity.

The opening of the Safe Passage route between the West Bank and Gaza Strip was recently agreed upon. Beginning from this first step, I think it is important for the parties to the peace process and the donors to make efforts for the realization of the "Peace Corridor" as a concrete project. It would extend across the region, making free, prompt and broad traffic possible for people as well as for goods, and thus serving as a basis for regional prosperity. Japanese people fully understand the preciousness of peace, since we have achieved reconstruction out of the destruction caused by the war more than fifty years ago, and we sincerely hope that peace will be soon achieved in the Middle East.

Finally, I would like to conclude by expressing my hope that the relevant parties will engage themselves in persistent negotiations and solve pressing agendas with the view of completing the final status negotiation by September, 2000. I promise you once again that the Government of Japan and its people will extend every possible assistance in cooperation with other countries.