ID :
94337
Fri, 12/11/2009 - 00:40
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/94337
The shortlink copeid
Japan offers Indonesia 37 billion yen loan for climate measures+
NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Dec. 10 Kyodo -
Japan offered a loan worth 37.44 billion yen to Indonesia on Thursday as the
first concrete measure under Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's initiative aimed
at helping developing nations cope with global warming.
Hatoyama also confirmed with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in
bilateral talks on Bali island that they will cooperate to make the ongoing
U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen a success, the Japanese prime
minister told reporters afterward.
Japan's fresh assistance, which was signed Thursday morning, is designed to
financially support Indonesia in implementing measures, especially in the
forestry and energy sectors, to combat global warming.
Under the ''Hatoyama Initiative,'' unveiled at a U.N. climate change summit in
New York in September, Japan plans to offer new financial and technical aid to
developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and take other actions
to address climate change.
Hatoyama said he told Yudhoyono that the two nations should work closely to
seek stronger commitments from the United States and China in the fight against
global warming at the U.N. conference, which the Japanese premier plans to
attend next week.
The United States and China are the world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse
gases, but neither signed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
Japan has pledged to trim its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020
compared with 1990 levels, provided that other major emitters such as the
United States, China and India join a new international framework on curbing
global warming.
Hatoyama stressed in his talks with Yudhoyono that setting a goal would help
the world promote research and development on the technology to combat the
global phenomenon, according to Japanese officials.
He also said Japan and Indonesia should beef up their economic cooperation in
various ways, and he invited Yudhoyono to visit Japan.
It was the third meeting of the two leaders this year. The two previous
meetings were during the Group of 20 summit in September in the United States
and the East Asia Summit in Thailand in October.
Also Thursday, Japan announced it would provide grants of 492 million yen for
bridge building in Indonesia's Nusa Tenggara Barat Province, east of Bali, and
1.52 billion yen for reinforcing and replacing bridges on Nias, an island in
North Sumatra Province that was devastated by tsunamis and earthquakes in 2004
and 2005.
At the opening of the second Bali Democracy Forum, which started shortly after
the bilateral summit, Hatoyama delivered a speech and called on China, Myanmar,
and North Korea to push ahead with democratization efforts.
''There is great expectation that China will continue to make progress, as a
responsible power, on the issues of democracy and human rights, along with
various other issues,'' Hatoyama, who co-chairs the forum with Yudhoyono, said
in his address in English.
Concerning Myanmar, the Japanese government will continue to encourage the
country to proceed with democratization so that next year's general election
can take place ''with the participation of all parties concerned,'' he said.
Hatoyama also urged North Korea to ''join the trend under way elsewhere in Asia
and throughout the world.''
He said the Korean Peninsula must be made free of nuclear weapons through the
six-party talks, which also involve China, Russia, South Korea and the United
States, and that other issues involving North Korea, including its past
abductions of Japanese nationals, must be settled.
''It is my hope that North Korea will eventually become a state open to the
international community as the process of establishing a framework for peace in
Northeast Asia moves forward,'' he said.
The Bali Democracy Forum was set up in December 2008 at Indonesia's initiative
to promote cooperation among Asian nations in the field of democracy and
political development.
''This is a part of dialogue to learn each other from respective experience of
each country, and Asia is rich with experiences, '' Yudhoyono said in his
speech at the forum.
East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah
are also attending the two-day meeting.
==Kyodo
Japan offered a loan worth 37.44 billion yen to Indonesia on Thursday as the
first concrete measure under Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's initiative aimed
at helping developing nations cope with global warming.
Hatoyama also confirmed with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in
bilateral talks on Bali island that they will cooperate to make the ongoing
U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen a success, the Japanese prime
minister told reporters afterward.
Japan's fresh assistance, which was signed Thursday morning, is designed to
financially support Indonesia in implementing measures, especially in the
forestry and energy sectors, to combat global warming.
Under the ''Hatoyama Initiative,'' unveiled at a U.N. climate change summit in
New York in September, Japan plans to offer new financial and technical aid to
developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and take other actions
to address climate change.
Hatoyama said he told Yudhoyono that the two nations should work closely to
seek stronger commitments from the United States and China in the fight against
global warming at the U.N. conference, which the Japanese premier plans to
attend next week.
The United States and China are the world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse
gases, but neither signed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
Japan has pledged to trim its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020
compared with 1990 levels, provided that other major emitters such as the
United States, China and India join a new international framework on curbing
global warming.
Hatoyama stressed in his talks with Yudhoyono that setting a goal would help
the world promote research and development on the technology to combat the
global phenomenon, according to Japanese officials.
He also said Japan and Indonesia should beef up their economic cooperation in
various ways, and he invited Yudhoyono to visit Japan.
It was the third meeting of the two leaders this year. The two previous
meetings were during the Group of 20 summit in September in the United States
and the East Asia Summit in Thailand in October.
Also Thursday, Japan announced it would provide grants of 492 million yen for
bridge building in Indonesia's Nusa Tenggara Barat Province, east of Bali, and
1.52 billion yen for reinforcing and replacing bridges on Nias, an island in
North Sumatra Province that was devastated by tsunamis and earthquakes in 2004
and 2005.
At the opening of the second Bali Democracy Forum, which started shortly after
the bilateral summit, Hatoyama delivered a speech and called on China, Myanmar,
and North Korea to push ahead with democratization efforts.
''There is great expectation that China will continue to make progress, as a
responsible power, on the issues of democracy and human rights, along with
various other issues,'' Hatoyama, who co-chairs the forum with Yudhoyono, said
in his address in English.
Concerning Myanmar, the Japanese government will continue to encourage the
country to proceed with democratization so that next year's general election
can take place ''with the participation of all parties concerned,'' he said.
Hatoyama also urged North Korea to ''join the trend under way elsewhere in Asia
and throughout the world.''
He said the Korean Peninsula must be made free of nuclear weapons through the
six-party talks, which also involve China, Russia, South Korea and the United
States, and that other issues involving North Korea, including its past
abductions of Japanese nationals, must be settled.
''It is my hope that North Korea will eventually become a state open to the
international community as the process of establishing a framework for peace in
Northeast Asia moves forward,'' he said.
The Bali Democracy Forum was set up in December 2008 at Indonesia's initiative
to promote cooperation among Asian nations in the field of democracy and
political development.
''This is a part of dialogue to learn each other from respective experience of
each country, and Asia is rich with experiences, '' Yudhoyono said in his
speech at the forum.
East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah
are also attending the two-day meeting.
==Kyodo
