For Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, the coming summit in Cologne, Germany, of the industrialized world's leaders comes at an optimal time.
Japan's just-released January-March gross domestic product data — showing the economy rose at a surprising annualized rate of 7.9 percent — will serve as a major tool for him to convince the summit leaders that the country is finally starting to pull out of its economic doldrums and is ready to contribute to global growth.
Still, Japanese officials concede Obuchi will have little new to offer when discussions by the Group of Eight powers focus on the fledgling peace in Kosovo.