Japan Adds US$50 Million To Poverty Fund

SHANGHAI, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (11 May 2002): Japan's Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa announced Saturday that Japan will make an additional contribution of US$50 million to the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), which is administered by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

"As the only multilateral development bank based in Asia, ADB has made considerable contribution to regional development, to the economic growth and social progress in the region, as well as to the quality of life," said Mr. Shiokawa in his address to ADB's 35th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors.

"I would like to take this opportunity to announce that this year, Japan will make a further contribution of approximately $50 million to the fund (JFPR)," he said. The JFPR, funded by the Government of Japan, was established in May 2000 to extend grants to support innovative poverty reduction and related social development activities that can add substantive value to ADB financed projects. Japan has already contributed $150 million to the fund.

The JFPR provides grants for such activities as educational campaigns relating to HIV/AIDS and improving nutrition for the poor and socially vulnerable.

The US$50 million will come out of the US$500 million that Japan had earlier pledged over the next two and a half years to support the reconstruction of Afghanistan, said Mr. Shiokawa.

He added that Japan appreciates ADB's active role in supporting Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia. "ADB President (Tadao) Chino is the first head of an international financial institution to visit Kabul since the events of September 11. I look forward to ADB's firm implementation of its assistance for Afghanistan's reconstruction in close collaboration with the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme, and bilateral donors.

"I hope that ADB will continue to play the leading role in regional development and to help its developing member countries implement structural reform, thus contributing further to poverty reduction in the entire Asian region," Mr. Shiokawa said.

Tsukasa Maekawa
Tel.: 1367 188 1061
E-mail: tmaekawa@adb.org