Prime Minister Naoto Kan held the first meeting of the Council on Assistance to Afghanistan at the Prime Minister's Office.

The meeting is chaired by the Prime Minister in order for the government to unite its efforts in considering Afghanistan assistance and addressing it comprehensively and strategically.

The Prime Minister said in his address, "I have decided to establish this council today with a desire to seek what the government can do more effectively -- a kind of assistance that Japan can extend from a non-military perspective, although I am aware that everyone of you here have already been making enormous efforts.
I would like to see the government do what it can effectively in order for Afghanistan to revive itself as a truly good nation through Japan's assistance."