Japan will propose starting joint research programs between Asia and Europe on countermeasures for financial crises when finance ministers from the two regions meet this weekend in Kobe.
During the third meeting of finance ministers from the Asia Europe Meeting group, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa will seek approval for the "Kobe Research Project," under which universities and private research institutes in the two regions would conduct joint studies on various financial issues, government officials said.
The joint studies would focus on currency stabilization and countercrisis steps in light of the financial crisis that hit Thailand in the summer of 1997 and spread across Asia, the officials said.