Japan to spend $700 million in Central Asia

Japan pledged on Saturday to launch projects worth $700 million in Central Asia to help the resource-rich region promote trade, energy saving and regional cooperation in stabilising nearby Afghanistan, the Bangkok Post reports.

The commitment followed a meeting in Tokyo between foreign ministers from Japan and five Central Asian nations -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

"We had frank discussions to help build a stronger, richer and more open Central Asia," Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told reporters after the meeting, the fourth edition of the "Central Asia plus Japan dialogue" which started in Kazakhstan in 2004.

According to a joint statement, the projects will cover five areas -- trade investment, the environment and energy saving, narrowing the wealth gap, regional cooperation in stabilising Afghanistan and cooperation in disaster prevention.

"Promoting cooperation between Japan and Central Asia will contribute to help sustain peace and stability in Afghanistan and resolve problems in the international community," Gemba said in an opening speech at the meeting.