A two-day international conference on development in Africa opened Monday in Tokyo with participants from African and Asian countries as well as donor nations and international organizations.
The ministerial-level delegates are scheduled to hold sessions to follow up on the Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II) held in 1998 and discuss a new partnership for Africa's development, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
They will also hold sub-sessions on topics such as reducing poverty through stimulating economic growth, and using information technology for development and regional cooperation, the ministry said.
Other issues to be taken up include governance, education and health, as well as the role of private-sector trade and investment in relation to African development, with a dialogue with the business community slated for Tuesday.
The ministerial meeting -- jointly sponsored by the Japanese government, the UN Development Program (UNDP), the World Bank, the Global Coalition for Africa, and the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for Africa and the Least Developed Countries -- is meant to pave the way for the third summit of the framework, TICAD III.
Taking part in the two-day conference are representatives from the cosponsors as well as all 53 African countries, 11 Asian nations, 23 donor countries and 38 international organizations.
In an opening address, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said, ''To help unveil a bright future for Africa, the international community must accumulate its wisdom and Japan, for its part, is resolved to provide the utmost support for this effort.''
Koizumi also announced that the Japanese government intends to hold TICAD III during the latter half of 2003.
Mali President Alpha Oumar Konare and UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown will also give speeches Monday morning.
Japan hosted the first two TICAD summits in 1993 and 1998 and the framework has provided fundamental and comprehensive policy and guidelines on African development to African countries and their partners, according to the Foreign Ministry.
( December 3, 2001)
