TOKYO: Japan and Palestine co-hosted an online briefing session on Post-Ceasefire Gaza Rebuilding for the Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD) on Wednesday.

The meeting was co-chaired by ANDO Toshihide, Director-General of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau in Japan’s Foreign Ministry and Wael Zakout, Palestine’s Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, with the attendance of Samah Hamad, the Palestine Minister of Social Development.

Participants included Japan, Palestine, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the World Bank, UNRWA, the Islamic Development Bank and Office of the Quartet. The objective of the meeting was to discuss assistance to the Palestinians from Asian countries.

Minister Zakout briefed the participants on the Palestinian plan for post-ceasefire Gaza and the outlook for rebuilding. The participants reaffirmed their readiness to support Palestine and collaborate in various ways to contribute to humanitarian assistance and recovery and reconstruction efforts, as well as to peace and stability.

The participants agreed to hold a CEAPAD Ministerial Meeting in Malaysia sometime this year.

CEAPAD is a regional conference framework initiated by Japan in 2013 to support Palestinian state-building efforts by drawing on the resources, knowledge, and experiences of East Asian countries.