Japan will provide US$4 million to help build an early warning system for tsunamis in the Indian Ocean, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Wednesday.

The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction has proposed building such a system for 8 million dollars, but has also suggested the cost could grow to US$20 million.

The aid for the system will come from the US$250 million grants Japan has offered to provide through international organizations, Hosoda said. It has pledged another US$250 million as bilateral grants-in-aid.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will announce the specific aid during a UN disaster reduction conference to be held Jan. 18-22 in Kobe, where a special session on the proposed tsunami warning system is planned, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 13, 2005)