Nippon Foundation Chief Eager to Promote Peace in Myanmar

Bangkok, Feb. 7 (Jiji Press)--Yohei Sasakawa, chairman of the Nippon Foundation, which helped the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army reach a ceasefire agreement, has expressed his eagerness to promote peace negotiations in many other conflict areas.

The state military and the AA, an ethnic armed organization active in Myanmar's western Rakhine State, have established a system to share information, and things are "going unexpectedly smoothly" under the ceasefire accord, Sasakawa, who visited Rakhine on Saturday, told Jiji Press in Bangkok on Monday. "We'd like to use (the process in Rakhine) as a model for other (conflict) areas," he said.

In November last year, the Myanmar military and the AA agreed to halt hostilities while humanitarian aid activities are going on, at the mediation of the Nippon Foundation. "I've been informed that many problems were solved through talks," said Sasakawa, who serves as Japanese government representative for national reconciliation in Myanmar.

As the first step of its support for Rakhine, the foundation plans to provide some 23,300 blankets to displaced people in the state by the end of March.

It aims to build schools, clinics and housing for returnees in the second phase. The foundation is calling on the state military and the AA to discuss when and where such facilities should be built.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]