Japan to host conference to support Palestine

Japan will host a meeting of Asian nations between February 13-14, in support to Palestine as a part of efforts toward achieving the Middle East peace, the Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday. The Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development, to be held in Tokyo, will bring together representatives from Japan, co-host Palestine, Brunei, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore and Vietnam, according to the ministry. "The main objectives of the conference are to support Palestinian efforts for state building by sharing East Asian countries' experience in economic development and expertise in assistance to Palestinians among participants, and discussing effective ways of cooperation, so as to promote the Middle East peace process and regional stability," the ministry said. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is expected to co-chair the meeting, which will be also joined by Islamic Development Bank, League of Arab States, UN, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and World Bank. In November, the UN General Assembly approved a resolution upgrading Palestine to a non-member observer state.