United Nations Radio

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon starts on Friday a three-nation East Asian tour which will also take him to the Group of Eight summit in Japan.

Hak-Fan Lau covers the trip for UN Radio, and he has sent this first report from Tokyo:

HAK: This will be Mr. Ban's first official visit to the capitals of Japan, China and the Republic of Korea since he took up the top UN job a year and half ago. On the last leg of the trip, he will attend the summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations, to be held in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Mr. Ban has said that top on his agenda will be the food crisis, climate change, and achieving the global anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals. Over the weekend, he will hold a dialogue on climate change at Kyoto university, and meet business leaders in the Japanese capital to promote corporate social responsibilities.

Hak-Fan Lau, UN Radio, Tokyo.

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