The contents of the declaration seem to reflect the general stance of the nations of Africa. There are some points which we see that leave much room for discussion in the course of forming a comprehensive package for the reform, such as increasing the number of Security Council seats to 26 and the inclusion of at least two African nations as permanent Security Council members. However, its views on the necessity of expanding the number of both permanent and non-permanent seats and the equality of prerogatives and powers between the current and new permanent members are worthy of positive evaluation in light of the stance of the Government of Japan. The nations of Africa exert considerable influence on discussions and decisions in the United Nations. Regarding the Denver Summit, I understand that Japan has already decided to reduce development assistance.
Development assistance is traditionally an important item of discussion at the Summit.
Japan has regarded this as one of the most important subjects at the G-7 Summits, and continues to do so. The Government of Japan is determined to improve the quality of Japan's ODA, despite having to decrease the overall ODA budget in the next fiscal year. Furthermore, Japan has been informally studying which is the best way to achieve the improvement of ODA activities while adhering to reductions in the ODA budget. Budgetary reparations within the Government will formally start from the beginning of September and will be basically completed sometime in December. Therefore, between now and December, we will finalize our plan.