The Japanese foreign minister explained the handling of the quake impact through an expose during his courtesy call on the president at the presidential office here before attending a Special ASEAN-Japan Ministerial Meeting on the post-quake and tsunami disaster handling in Japan.
During the meeting which lasted for about 30 minutes, President Yudhoyono said that the ASEAN-Japan ministerial meeting was held as a form of solidarity of the ASEAN society toward the people of Japan which was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami sometime ago.
"We will also discuss cooperation in the handling of disaster between Japan and ASEAN, despite the fact that such a cooperation has been going on well, and though Japan is fast in overcoming disasters because of its system, technology and prosperity, yet cooperation between Japan and ASEAN is needed," the president said.
He said that Japan is a close ASEAN partner which has so far consistently assisted ASEAN nations which faced natural disasters.
ASEAN and Japanese ministers will discuss ways and facilities for increasing cooperation in the handling of natural disaster and assistance, including recovery efforts, rehabilitation and reconstruction.(*)
(A014/HAJM)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
