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Japan will spend $4M in South Pacific

POHNPEI, Palikir (FSM Information Service): April 2000 - Japan has pledged more than $4 million to help Pacific island nations plug into cyberspace, fight infectious diseases, and strengthen regional ties, according to news reports of the South Pacific Forum Summit meeting in Japan.

The Pacific Daily News reports in its Sunday, April 23 edition that the measures to spend the money passed Saturday April 22.

Japan will contribute $1 million to the U.N. Development Program for projects supporting the use of information technology, notably the Internet, according to the PDN report.

Two million dollars more will be marked for regional and global issues that include AIDS, narcotics and crime among the Pacific island nations and the Forum's Secretariat will receive $1 million to organize intellectual and cultural exchanges, said the report.