/ 30 June 1999

FIRST JAPANESE AID TO ZAMBIA

JAPAN will grant 1,5-billion ($124 million) in aid to Zambia, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Tokyo will provide the grant to assist the African nation to import products needed for economic development, the ministry said in a statement. The grant, Japan’s first to Zambia, will also be used to assist the country in improving welfare, education and environmental development programs, it said. The countries agreed on the aid in the Zambian capital of Lusaka in early Tuesday.