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Events and Announcements

23 october 2008

On October 22nd Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Yasutoshi Nishimura represented the Government of Japan at the Georgia Donor's Conference organised by the European Commission and the World Bank. Some 53 countries and major international organisations attended the conference held at the Charlemagne Building in Brussels.

The Government of Japan pledged approximately $200million for the reconstruction of Georgia following the recent conflict. For the full text of Mr. Nishimura's statement at the conference please see below. For further information on Japan's assistance and on Japan-Georgia relations please click here.

Statement by Mr. Yasutoshi Nishimura,
Parliamentary Vice- Minister for Foreign Affairs
Georgia Donor’s Conference (22 Oct 2008, Brussels)

Your Excellencies,
Distinguished colleagues, Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me first express, on behalf of the Government of Japan, our respect for the great efforts made by the co-chairs of the European Commission and the World Bank as well co-hosts of France as the EU Presidency and the incoming Czech Presidency to organize this Donors’ Conference for Georgia.

We have just heard from Prime Minister Gurgenidze about the damages incurred by the conflict in Georgia and its reconstruction needs. In recent times, Georgia has been making significant progress in democratization and the shift to a market economy and had achieved an impressive increase in economic growth before the outbreak of the armed conflict. Japan has been an active supporter of such reform efforts by Georgia. Now the international community must offer its support for Georgia, which will be essential to ensure its recovery from the devastation caused by the conflict and return it to a path of stability and development. It will surely contribute to further democratization and enhancement of the market economy, which in turn will ensure the prosperity and stability of the whole Caucasus region, which is at the intersection of Asia and Europe.

With this goal in mind, Japan today announces an assistance package up to 200 million US dollars to the Government of Georgia which needs to overcome the financial crisis resulting from the emergency spending after the conflict and faces the challenges of medium and long term reconstruction and development. In particular, Japan will provide loan aid for the improvement of the transportation infrastructure which has a vital importance to the reconstruction of Georgia, as well as grant aid of approximately 12 million US dollars for emergency assistance to the government. Georgia has a geographical advantage of being located on the shortest route between Central Asia and the Black Sea. I strongly believe that the contribution by the international community including Japan, for the reconstruction and improvement of the East-West transport corridor will aid the prosperity of Georgia and its people, and will revitalize the regional economy as a whole.

In addition, we believe that it is important for Georgia to strive to build an energy-saving society during the process of reconstruction, since Georgia, like Japan, is not rich in energy resources. We are willing to discuss possible cooperation in this field with the Georgian government.

For Georgia’s full recovery from the conflict, the support of the international community for reconstruction alone is not enough. A political settlement is also crucial. Japan has been consistently supporting a peaceful resolution of this issue based on the principle of territorial integrity. The situation is showing some positive progress thanks to the mediation of the French EU Presidency, but there still remain unresolved issues. The international discussion on the security and stability in the region which took place in Geneva last week will be only resumed next month due to procedural difficulties. I strongly hope that this issue will be resolved as soon as possible through constructive responses from all parties concerned.

Japan will open an embassy in Tbilisi in January 2009. With this, we hope to further strengthen our relationship with Georgia. We are willing to offer our utmost support to Georgia, together with the international community, as the Georgian people stand up firmly and work together for the reconstruction and rebuilding of their nation.

Thank you.