Japan's Obuchi vows to help Asia
04:31 a.m. Jul 26, 1998 Eastern
MANILA, July 26 (Reuters) - Prime Minister-designate Keizo Obuchi said
on Sunday he planned to pledge to quickly revive Japan's moribund
economy and help Asia's financial recovery when he met Western and Asian
leaders here later in the day.
''I plan to convey my strong determination to revitalise Japan's economy
to contribute to Asia's recovery,'' Obuchi told Japanese reporters who
flew with him to Manila on a lightning 12-hour trip.
Obuchi, 61, foreign minister since last September, said he would explain
to world leaders the economic measures he planned to take in the coming
months to get Japan out of its worst recession since World War Two.
''Many countries in Asia and elsewhere have great expectations of
Japan,'' he said.
Obuchi is in Manila to attend an annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)
meeting.
He was also scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright, Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov and Chinese Foreign
Minister Tang Jiaxuan who are also attending the meeting.
The Manila meeting brings together the nine members of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam -- plus Cambodia,
Papua New Guinea, Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India,
Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the United States.
Obuchi was effectively chosen last Friday by the ruling Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) to be prime minister at a time of economic
malaise in Japan that has brought urgent global demands for swift
action.
Obuchi has pledged six trillion yen ($42.5 billion) in corporate and
income tax cuts and a 10 trillion yen ($71.4 billion) extra budget to
pull Japan out of its financial morass.
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. |
