Japan Resumes Aid to Palestinians
Abbas thanked Japan for its help during with his meeting withAso in Ramallah on Wednesday [AFP]15 August 2007
Japan has resumed direct financial aid to the Palestinians with the signing by its foreign minister of a multi-million-dollar aid package for the new Palestinian government.
Taro Aso and Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, signed the deal on Wednesday in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
"The deal provides direct aid from the Japanese government to the Palestinian Authority in the amount of $11.3m for the general budget, support for an agriculture project and other economic sectors," a senior Palestinian official said.
Aso is on a regional tour which Tokyo has said aims to promote the peace process through economic means.
Four-way meeting
On Wednesday, besides Fayyad, Aso met Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and was due to hold a four-way meeting in Jericho with Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister; Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator; and Abdul-Ilah al-Khatib, the Jordanian foreign minister.
Taro Aso and Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, signed the deal on Wednesday in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
"The deal provides direct aid from the Japanese government to the Palestinian Authority in the amount of $11.3m for the general budget, support for an agriculture project and other economic sectors," a senior Palestinian official said.
Aso is on a regional tour which Tokyo has said aims to promote the peace process through economic means.
Four-way meeting
On Wednesday, besides Fayyad, Aso met Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and was due to hold a four-way meeting in Jericho with Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister; Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator; and Abdul-Ilah al-Khatib, the Jordanian foreign minister.
Aso, at left, with Palestinian, Israeli and Jordanian ministers in Jericho [AFP]On agenda will be a project for an agro-industrial park in Jericho that Japan is underwriting.
"This project will help create jobs for the Palestinians, boost their economy, build confidence with the Israelis and establish friendship between parties of the peace process," Aso said, speaking through a translator.
In talks with Livni, Aso urged Israel to ease the restrictions on movement that Israel has imposed in the occupied West Bank, citing security concerns, since the beginning of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000.
Major donor
Japan, the world's second-largest economy and a major donor to the Middle East, will provide another $8m in humanitarian aid, the official said.
Japan suspended direct aid to the Palestinians in 2006 after Hamas formed a cabinet after sweeping a January parliamentary poll.
"Since the creation of the Palestinian Authority (in 1994), Japan has given a billion (dollars) and today we thank it for this new aid of 20 million dollars," Abbas told Aso during their meeting.
Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led unity government in June after the group overran his forces in the Gaza Strip. He later appointed a new cabinet headed by Fayyad, an economist.
Source
"This project will help create jobs for the Palestinians, boost their economy, build confidence with the Israelis and establish friendship between parties of the peace process," Aso said, speaking through a translator.
In talks with Livni, Aso urged Israel to ease the restrictions on movement that Israel has imposed in the occupied West Bank, citing security concerns, since the beginning of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000.
Major donor
Japan, the world's second-largest economy and a major donor to the Middle East, will provide another $8m in humanitarian aid, the official said.
Japan suspended direct aid to the Palestinians in 2006 after Hamas formed a cabinet after sweeping a January parliamentary poll.
"Since the creation of the Palestinian Authority (in 1994), Japan has given a billion (dollars) and today we thank it for this new aid of 20 million dollars," Abbas told Aso during their meeting.
Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led unity government in June after the group overran his forces in the Gaza Strip. He later appointed a new cabinet headed by Fayyad, an economist.
Source
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 9:24 PM
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