Japan on Wednesday pledged 1.5 billion yen in grants to Zambia to support the country's efforts to improve its economic structure and to promote sanitary and educational development programs, Foreign Ministry officials said.
Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and visiting Zambian Communications and Transport Minister Nkandu Luo exchanged diplomatic notes in Tokyo prior to a lunch meeting at a state guesthouse between Kono and Zambian President Frederick Chiluba.
During the meeting, Chiluba thanked Japan for its economic cooperation and said the country is making efforts to stabilize and reform its economy as well as taking initiatives to resolve regional conflicts in Africa, the officials said.