Santiago -- 29 Nov. 2006 --- A flag-raising ceremony at ECLAC headquarters in Santiago, Chile marked the official incorporation of Japan as a member country of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Representing the Japanese government at the ceremony was the Japanese ambassador to Chile, Hajime Ogawa, who was received by ECLAC Executive Secretary José Luis Machinea in a private meeting prior to the ceremony. The Japanese flag now flies among those of other member states at the entrance of ECLAC's regional headquarters.

ECLAC's Machinea highlighted the importance of Japan's development assistance to Latin American and Caribbean countries, through its bilateral programmes and its participation in multilateral institutions. He also noted the relevance of economic relations between Japan and the region. As examples, he cited the 2004 free trade agreement between Mexico and Japan, and negotiations currently underway for a similar agreement with Chile.

ECLAC has conducted important development projects with Japanese cooperation since 1995, in strategies for trade and development; regulation of short-term capital flows and financial crisis; bolstering Latin America-Asian cooperation, and other areas of interest to both.

ECLAC will continue to deepen its relationship with Japan, Machinea added, building upon such shared beliefs as democracy and economic liberalization.

Japan's Ogawa, in turn, praised ECLAC as the "top research organization" in the region for its contributions to research on Latin America and the Caribbean socio-economic development.

The ambassador noted that Japan joined ECLAC as an observer in 1956, the same year it became the 80th member of the United Nations, and has cultivated close ties through technical and economic cooperation activities since then. Ogawa said that Japan looks forward to carrying out a balanced and focused aid programme in the Latin America and the Caribbean as a means of contributing to steady regional development.

Japan is the first Asian nation to become a full member of ECLAC. Its incorporation was approved in the 41st plenary session of the UN Economic and Social Council, on 27 July 2006, in Resolution No. 2006/39.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean was founded on the principle of participation by regional countries and by countries with historic, cultural, geographic and economic ties to the region. ECLAC members from outside Latin America and the Caribbean include Spain (1979), Portugal (1984), Italy (1990) and Germany (2005). Canada, France, the Netherlands, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have been members since ECLAC was created in 1948.

Source: eclac.org