DUSHANBE, November 30, Asia-Plus — On December 2, President Emomali Rahmon will leave for Japan on a four-day visit.
Davlat Nazri, the head of the MFA information department, said that state advisers, senior representatives from president’s administration as well as a number of ministers will accompany President Rahmon on his visit to Japan.
During his stay in Japan, President Rahmon will attend the First Asia-Pacific Water Summit, which will be held in Beppu, Oita, Japan on December 3-4.
On December 4, President Rahmon will meet with Mr. Ioshiro Mori, ex-Prime Minister of Japan and Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Summit, on sidelines of the summit in Beppu.
The same day, he will also hold meetings with Ms. Nakayama, Special Adviser to Japan’s Prime, and a group of Japanese businesspeople.
Tajik head of state is also scheduled to hold talks with Japan’s head of state Emperor Akihito. Emomali Rahmon is also expected to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Foreign Minister Taro Aso.
No documents are expected to be signed and the Tajik delegation will return home on December 5, the MFA spokesman said.
Tajikistan and Japan have close cooperation. Japan has supported numerous humanitarian and development activities in Tajikistan through awarding grants.
Under the Grant Assistance for Grass Roots Human Security Projects, the Government of Japan has extended to the total grant of US$ 12,542,079 for 201 projects since 1996.
The First Asia-Pacific Water Summit aims to address water resources management, water financing and others water issues in the Asia Pacific region. It will focus on three priority themes — water financing, water-related disaster management and water for development and ecosystems.
The summit, which has invited government heads of the Asia Pacific region, companies and organizations, also aims to encourage private sectors to invest in water management, boost better coordination and collaborations between governments in dealing with water pollution. .
The meeting also hopes to promote inner-Asia knowledge sharing over water resource management and call on public awareness of water.
According to statistics, some 700 million people in the Asia Pacific region were without access to safe drinking water in 2004 and some 1.9 billion people still lacked access to improved sanitation facilities in the region.
