Japan to Work With ASEAN on Myanmar Humanitarian Response
By Nurfardlina Izzati Moktar and Nor Farah Aqilah Mohd Sham
KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 (Bernama) -- Japan has thrown its weight behind Malaysia's ASEAN chairmanship, hoping Kuala Lumpur will leverage the role to spearhead regional efforts to address the worsening crisis in Myanmar, including the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country, which has been further devastated by a powerful earthquake in March.
Japan's Ambassador to Malaysia, Noriyuki Shikata, said Japan stands ready to work with ASEAN to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to Myanmar and is also keen to support and engage in the country's reconstruction.
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"The situation in Myanmar has worsened because of the quake. We have been dispatching our humanitarian assistance and wish to engage in the reconstruction of the country.
'But at this point in time, it is very difficult to effectively conduct and carry out humanitarian assistance,' he said during an interview on Bernama TV's The Nation: Diplomatic Dispatch, on Wednesday.
"I have very strong expectations for Malaysia as chair of ASEAN to address these urgent issues, and Japan looks forward to supporting Malaysia's role as a chair of the ASEAN process," he added.
According to the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre), the 7.7-magnitude earthquake near Mandalay on March 28 has killed more than 3,700 people.
The quake caused widespread destruction to critical infrastructure and affected nearly 508,000 people, with more than 28,500 currently housed in 106 evacuation centres.
The total estimated cost stands at US$1.7 billion with authorities continuing to verify this figure, the centre said.
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