The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross expressed hope Monday that Japan will increase its financial and personnel contributions to the relief agency.
"If in the future we can have an increase of that support, that would be positive," ICRC President Jacob Kellenberger said in an interview. with Kyodo News.
Kellenberger spoke shortly before leaving for his first visit to Japan, where he is scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka to discuss how Japan and the ICRC can strengthen their cooperation in various relief operations, including Afghanistan.
In 2000, Japan's financial contribution to the ICRC was 11.95 million Swiss francs (about 936 million yen), a mere 2 percent of the total received by the organization and way below what Japan usually gives to international bodies, such as U.N. agencies.