Japan pledges fresh aid to Southeast Asia
Japan pledges fresh aid to Southeast Asia
Yuri Kageyama
Associated Press/Kuala Lumpur
Japan pledged 7.5 billion yen (US$70 million) in aid to Southeast
Asia on Tuesday to help regional integration through encouraging
development and exchanges.
The fresh aid package was announced at a meeting between
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and leaders from the
10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during
this week's regional summit.
It comes on top of the US$135 million in aid that Japan
pledged a day earlier during the ASEAN summit to help the region
fight bird flu and a possible outbreak of a pandemic influenza in
Asia.
Japan has also promised to provide a stockpile of anti-flu
medicine for a half-million people in Southeast Asia.
In Tuesday's joint statement, the leaders agreed to work
together in building an economic partnership, including doing
their utmost to agree on a free trade pact by April 2007. The
talks have faltered, but both sides agreed to restart informal
workshop talks.
Japan and ASEAN nations agreed to take up common challenges
such as the threat of terrorism, bird flu, rising oil prices and
natural disasters, including tsunami and earthquakes, the
statement said.
"We welcomed the close cooperative partnership established
over the last 32 years, which has contributed to the peace,
stability, development and prosperity of the region," the
statement said.
The specific uses for the fresh aid package are still being
worked out, according to Japanese officials, but the nations will
promote cultural projects and educational exchange.
They also agreed on working toward the long-term goal of an
East Asian community, it said.
The partnership with Southeast Asia has been one positive note
for Japan at this year's ASEAN and East Asia Summit, which has
been marred by criticism from China and South Korea over
Koizumi's visits to a war shrine.
Both Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Roh
Moo-hyun turned down one-on-one meetings with Koizumi.
China and South Korea say Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine
show Japan's glorification of World War II. Yasukuni honors
Japan's 2.5 million war dead, including those executed for war
crimes. Koizumi says he is expressing Japan's commitment to peace
and respect for the war dead.