World Bank President To Visit Japan, Attend TICAD IV Summit

May 26, 2008 6:05 p.m. EST

Tokyo, Japan (AHN) - World Bank President Robert Zoellick has announced a visit to Japan at the end of May to attend the 4th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV).

Japan will host the TICAD IV and chair the G8 Summit at a time when the world's poorest people face major challenges due to increased food prices and the impacts of climate change. Leaders in Tokyo have been at the forefront of combating climate change ever since they hosted the Kyoto Protocol in 1997.

The World Bank chief will be in Tokyo and Yokohama during his visit and is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Fukuda, Finance Minister Nukaga, Foreign Minister Koumura and other senior representatives of the Japanese government.

Zoellick will also meet with heads of state from several African countries and participate in a meeting on the global food crisis jointly-organized with the African Union, the World Food Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

The meeting will be focused on the immediate and medium-to-long term actions needed to tackle the global food crisis, according to World Bank officials.