JAPAN HOLDS OUT PROMISE OF FUNDS FOR ASIAN BANK
Japanese Finance Minister Kiichi
Miyazawa opened the 20th annual meeting of the Asian
Development Bank by holding out the promise of more Japanese
money for the organisation.
    "We are ... Striving to enhance the flow of capital from
Japan to the developing countries," he said.
    "The Asia-Pacific region is an area of special concern for
us in our bilateral and multilateral assistance."
    He said Tokyo was ready to study setting up a special
Japanese fund at the ADB, like the one at the World Bank.
    The World Bank fund is earmarked for use by developing
countries.
    Developing countries and the United States have criticised
Japan for failing to use its trade surplus to help poor
countries.
    Later this week, Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone is
expected to tell President Reagan that Japan plans to extend as
much as 30 billion dlrs to developing countries over the next
three years, Japanese officials said. The exta ADB funding
would be part of that amount.
    "Our cooperation is intended to contibute to ... Alleviating
the burden on (developing countries)," said Miyazawa, who is
also chairman of the ADB board of governors.
    "The developing countries today find themselves in a very
difficult situation," he said. "With a few notable exceptions,
those countries that are highly dependent upon commodity
exports face a rough road ahead."
    While the developing countries can help themselves by
striving to become internationally competitive and seeking to
attract foreign investment, the ADB also has a role to play, he
said.
    Miyazawa told the meeting the bank must beef up its
economic advice program to developing nations and must work
vigorously to identify development projects for loans.
    He also called for more use of loans that were not tied to
development projects, but provided more overall help to the
borrower.
    ADB President Masao Fujioka supported Miyazawa's view.
    "The bank has been fondly described as the family doctor,"
Fujioka said. "The bank will now have to equip itself to meet a
range of services required to attend to varied needs of its
developing members."
    Miyazawa told the meeting Tokyo was ready to allow its
Export-Import Bank to co-finance ADB loans. These would not
have to be used for the purchase of Japanese equipment.
    Tokyo was also prepared to let the Asian Development Bank
raise more funds in Tokyo and financial markets should it need
to do so, he said.
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