Japan To Focus Foreign Aid On African Development, Climate Change.

"Japan underscored in a government report Friday its eagerness to take the lead in helping developing nations fight global warming and facilitating international efforts to support African development as host of two key conferences next year.

The White Paper on Official Development Assistance (ODA) 2007 also noted the need for Japan to press China and other emerging donor nations for greater transparency in their aid provision. It also said Japan must consider 'comprehensively and strategically' how to continue its economic cooperation with rapidly developing China. ...

On aid for Africa, the report ... stressed the importance of assistance not only for development but also for human security and environmental measures. ...Regarding measures for climate change, which is expected to be a highlight of the G-8 summit, Japan said it hopes to share with developing nations its own lessons from pollution in the 1970s and its current energy-efficient and environmentally friendly technologies. ..." [Kyodo News/Factiva]

Jiji Press adds that "...The white paper made clear the government's policy of using ODA as a means to support Japanese companies' activities to secure stable supplies of natural resources such as rare metals amid intensifying global competition for energy resources. ..." [Jiji Press/Factiva]



Imf, World Bank Forgive Part Of Gambia's Debt.

"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank said Thursday that Gambia has qualified for debt relief under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, or HIPC. Over a quarter of Gambia's debt, or about $140 million in nominal terms, will be forgiven, the institutions said. ..." [Dow Jones/Factiva]

Reuters adds that "...more importantly, reaching the so-called completion point makes Gambia eligible for broader assistance that will push the total value of its debt relief to $514 million, the IMF said.

'Gambia has made good progress toward securing macroeconomic stability and has established a good track record of policy implementation in 2007,' said Tsidi Tsikata, IMF mission chief for Gambia. ... For Gambia, the World Bank will cancel $183 million of pre-2003 debt, for a savings of $202 million in debt payments. ..." [Reuters/Factiva]



IMF Approves $744 Million Iraq Loan Agreement.

"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday approved a $744 million loan agreement to Iraq through March 2009 designed to support the country's economic program.

'The authorities' program for 2008 aims to allocate resources toward investment, including in the oil sector, and to improve the provision of public services, while containing current government spending, notably on the wage and pension bill,' Takatoshi Kato, the IMF's Deputy Managing Director and acting chair, said in a statement. ..." [Reuters/Factiva]

AFP adds that Kato "...said Iraqi authorities 'have succeeded in keeping their economic program on track in 2006-07, despite the difficult security and political situation.' He said Iraq has managed to carry out a number of economic reforms and boost interest rates to curb inflation pressures. ..." [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

Dow Jones notes that "Iraq, tightening monetary policy and controlling the budget, has lowered inflation in 2007, with a 2008 target for consumer prices of 12 percent. Kato said Thursday Iraqi authorities have kept their economic program on track in 2006-07 despite the war. ..." [Dow Jones/Factiva]



Russia Seals Caspian Gas Pipeline Deal.

"Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan finalized a landmark agreement on Thursday to build a pipeline to transport gas to Russia...Dubbed Pricaspiysky, the new pipeline will skirt the east coast of the Caspian Sea carrying 20 billion cubic meters a year of Turkmen and Kazakh gas north to Russia's Saratov region...

[Russian president Vladimir] Putin said the Pricaspiysky pipeline would be 'a serious investment by our countries in strengthening energy security, not just in Eurasia but more widely, bearing in mind our main consumers in west Europe'. ...

Viktor Khristenko, the Russian energy minister, said the Pricaspiysky pipeline would be built by late 2010. Each republic would take responsibility for financing construction of the pipeline on their territory, he said. ..." [The Financial Times (UK)]

IHT notes that "Desperate to meet growing domestic and European demand, Russia signed a major deal Thursday with the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to build a natural gas pipeline along the Caspian Sea, a move that could strengthen Russia's monopoly on energy exports from this region, analysts said.

The deal was signed in the Kremlin by Putin and President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan during a conference call with President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan. ...

Starting in January, Russia will pay $130 per 1,000 cubic meters, or 35,000 cubic feet, for gas from Turkmenistan, compared to $100 paid this year. During the second half of 2008, the price will rise to $150 per 1,000 cubic meters. [The International Herald Tribune]



Tobacco, Poverty Drive Cancer In Developing World.

"Rising tobacco use and poverty will fuel cancer across the developing world, more than doubling the number of new cases to 27 million by 2050, experts predicted on Thursday.

Cancer is already the No. 2 cause of death globally, after heart disease and ahead of AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other causes. ...Cancer is caused by a mix of factors, including genes, diet, lack of exercise and, rarely, chemical exposure.

But the No. 1 cause is smoking. And more people are using tobacco, said the National Cancer Institute's Deirdre Lawrence. ... She said 70 percent of the deaths would be in the developing world. In 1970, 3.26 million cigarettes were smoked globally. In 2000, it was 5.7 million. ..." [Reuters/Factiva]


Also in this edition: Briefly Noted...

The World Bank will lend $150 million to Kenya to help three water service boards improve sanitation and access to safe drinking water. The Bank said in a statement late on Thursday that at present, only 60 percent of the east African nation's 36 million people have access to safe drinking water, and only 80 percent have access to basic sanitation. [Reuters/Factiva]

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will assert his regional leadership at a summit in Cuba on Friday for Petrocaribe, his initiative to sell oil to Caribbean nations with soft financing. With oil prices above $90 a barrel, Petrocaribe is offering terms that few can refuse: deferred payment of 40 percent of their oil bill for up to 25 years, at 1 percent interest. [Reuters/Factiva]

Guatemala needs to boost both investment and productivity to raise economic growth to levels now seen in other emerging market economies and to reduce poverty, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday. [Reuters/Factiva]

Deforestation in Haiti, where trees and bushes are routinely felled for cooking fuel, is at crisis level, with just 2 percent plant cover now, the UN warned Thursday. There is a real urgency, and measures need to be taken ... plant cover is down to about two percent, UN Development Program official in Haiti, Joel Boutroue, said. [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

Rating Latin American ports in the region on a scale of one to 10, World Bank independent port advisor Martin Sgut says port infrastructure and operations score around seven, while navigation channels score lower at five and areas such as road and rail access, the institutional framework surrounding Latin American ports and trade facilitation score as low as two or one. [Lloyd's/Factiva]

The World Bank has approved a $225 million loan to Bihar aimed to support the state in implementing reforms in fiscal policy, public financial management, and governance in order to boost economic growth. Bihar is a crucial state for poverty reduction and inclusive growth in India, said World Bank Country Director Isabel Guerrero. [BBC Monitoring/Factiva]

Pakistan should let its currency move more freely but the country's economy seems to be holding up well despite political and international financial market turmoil, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday. [Reuters/Factiva]

Next year, the Russian Finance Ministry will work out proposals on early repayment of a significant part of Russia's debt to the World Bank, said Dmitry Pankin, head of the ministry's department of international financial relations, state debt and state financial assets. [Russian Financial Control Monitor/Factiva]

Bulgaria's parliament adopted a final budget Thursday for 2008 that foresees economic growth of 6.4 percent and targets a budget surplus of 3.0 percent of GDP. [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

The US will suffer from global warming along with other nations if there is no broader agreement on cutting carbon emissions, the UN Environment Program Executive Director Achim Steiner said. He said the US needed to take significant steps to cut emissions or there would be no solution to climate change, despite an agreement in Bali on negotiations to replace the Kyoto climate pact. [Reuters/Factiva]