TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has said Japan will provide Myanmar with more than 600 million dollars in yen loans to assist the country's economic development.
Noda announced Japan's decision to resume the yen loans in a meeting with Myanmar's President TheinSein in Cambodia last night, according to Japan's (NHK WORLD) website.
The two leaders met on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit.
Noda said Myanmar has made steady progress in political reforms and that both the public and private sectors in Japan will support the country's reform efforts.
The yen loans will be used to refurbish a thermal power plant in the country's largest city of Yangon, and road and communication projects in the nearby special economic zone of Thilawa.
They will be the first new yen loans from Japan in almost 26 years.
Myanmar's president thanked Japan for its assistance, and said Myanmar will improve the environment for foreign investment.
The Japanese government will clear Myanmar's existing 6-billion-dollar debt in January 2013, and release the loans from February. (QNA)
