All European countries should contribute at least 0.7 percent of their
national income for Asiantsunami-hit countries, European Commissioner for
Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel said here Sunday.
"The best idea is first to reach the point that all European countries donate
at least 0.7 percent of their GDP" as tsunami aid,Belgian media quoted the
European commissioner as saying.
Louis Michel, a former Belgian foreign minister, had visited the region hit
by the strong tidal waves on Dec. 26, 2004. He had made a report on the
consequences of the tsunamis before a European Union (EU) meeting Friday.
The European Union vowed Friday to further bolster support for disaster-hit
south Asia, and stressed focus must now turn rapidly from relief operation to
post-disaster reconstruction.
On the issue of debt relief for all tsunami-hit nations, Michelsaid that he
supported an "annulment of the debt of all poor countries," but he said he did
not see any necessity of canceling the debts of Indonesia, Thailand or Sri
Lanka.
The rich industrialized countries of the Paris Club adopted a debt-freezing
plan to the tsunami-hit nations at a summit in Jakarta on Thursday.
