Foreign Minister Yohei Kono promised new aid initiatives for East Timor on Sunday, including offering some 8,000 radio receivers and programs to develop human resources.
"My visit may have been a little bit too late . . . but I brought all our warm feelings," Kono said after witnessing a signing ceremony on the radio aid at the U.N. Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) headquarters.
Kono, who arrived from Jakarta for a half-day visit, is the first Japanese Cabinet minister to visit East Timor.
After the ceremony, UNTAET head Sergio Vieira de Mello expressed "the gratitude of UNTAET and of the East Timorese people for the commitment of Japan."