TOKYO: Japan and the United States on Sunday announced a partnership involving businesses to help spearhead reconstruction following the Asian nation's devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, meeting with visiting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said businesses from the two countries would meet on ways to assist Japan as it rebuilds its battered northeastern coast.
"Japan will formulate its reconstruction plan and, based upon the plan, we would like to cooperate with the US and other countries in the world so that we can proceed rapidly," he said.
While the details were vague for now, the heads of the countries' main business groups the US Chamber of Commerce and Nippon Keidanren held talks to lay the groundwork for the initiative.
Tom Donohue, the head of the US Chamber of Commerce, said he would tell US businesses that Japan was en route to recovery and encourage them to stay active in the world's second largest developed economy.
"It is in the interest of the American business community to see that the Japanese economic engine is working at peak performance as quickly as possible," Donohue said, appearing next to Clinton.
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