Japan pledges $100 mil. for poverty reduction at ADB meeting+

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, May 4 Kyodo - Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano pledged at an Asian Development Bank meeting Monday to provide $100 million (about 10 billion yen) in grant aid over the next three years to help reduce poverty in Asia.

''Those who are affected most by the economic crisis are the poor, who are
socially vulnerable,'' Yosano said in a speech to the ADB annual meeting held
on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
The aid, to be implemented through the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, a
Japan-financed trust fund created at the ADB, will help job training, education
and other poverty-reduction efforts by local governments in Asia, he said.
Yosano asked other countries and international organizations to provide similar
aid.
He said the adverse effects of the deterioration of the real economy due to the
global financial crisis are ''certainly appearing'' in Asia.
The ADB should play a leading role in supporting developing countries hit by
the financial crisis in the region, he said.
Yosano welcomed the ADB's decision earlier in the day to triple its capital to
$165 billion.
At a news conference after the speech, Yosano said, ''It's difficult for the
Japanese economy alone to improve. I've renewed my recognition that it's
important for Japan to grow together with other parts of Asia.''
==Kyodo