Japan to pledge $190m aid

Japan to pledge $190m aid

TOKYO (AFP): Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi will pledge
20 billion yen (US$190 million) in aid for the poor in Asia when
he attends a major Southeast Asian conference this month, a press
report said Saturday.

The promise will be made at a summit of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their key neighbors in Manila
on November 28,Jiji Press said.

The government will extend 10 billion yen each through the
World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to back up official and
non-government activities supporting impoverished, undereducated
people in Asia, the news agency said.

Obuchi will also announce plans to set up a $100 million fund
in Thailand early next year to invest in small-sized and venture
businesses in the region by buying their shares, the Jiji report
said.

The Asian Development Bank and Japan's Bank for International
Cooperation are expected to provide $25 million each to the fund,
the report added.