News from the Field

A series of ministerial meetings in Beijing was scheduled Thursday (December 3) for JICA President Mrs. Sadako Ogata after several days in the northeast of the country where she met local officials, experts and trainees and visited several JICA related projects.

Her itinerary Thursday called for discussions with a Vice Premier, the Minister of Science and Technology, the Foreign Minister and the Vice Minister of Finance.

Since she began her visit Sunday, the first to China in three years, Mrs. Ogata spent the first several days in Liaoning and Jilin provinces where she took the opportunity to meet local officials, experts and trainees as well as visiting medical and technology centers where, among other things, she saw some of the latest equipment Japan has provided to China by yen loan agreements.

She spent time talking with personnel who have undergone advanced training in Japan--some of the more than 20,000 Chinese who have participated in such schemes in the last 30 years.

Teng Weiping, a Vice Governor in Liaoning Province told Mrs. Ogata that the various JICA-related projects had helped the region to establish a higher education institute and technical facilities there.

As the province experienced a rapid economic expansion, the Vice Governor said he expected the support and friendship from JICA to continue in several areas including science and technology, hygiene and environmental issues.

Following her round of ministerial meetings Thursday, Mrs. Ogata was scheduled to deliver a keynote address at Beijing's Tsinghua University Friday when she is expected to review relations between the two countries in the development field, Japan's assistance to China in the last three decades and to call for closer cooperation between the two countries was the world faces major problems in such areas as climate change.

She will return to Japan Saturday.