Exterior hotel



Conference sign



Delegates from Thailand, New Zealand, Malaysia, Korea, Hongkong, India and Australia seated.



Deputy Prime Minister Miki (Japan) opens conference



Executive Secretary U. Nyun speaking others on platform



Delegates from Britain, United States and New Zealand listen



Conference hall



Delegates listen



Executive on platform




Initials rgh/vs



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The Second Asian Population Conference opened in Tokyo today (Wednesday) to make an exhaustive study of the continuing population explosion in the region.

Since the last conference nine years ago, the total Asian population has increased by 400-million despite progress in family planning.

Over the next two weeks, exports from 25 countries and other international organisations will study the trends and try to produce measures to avert the continuing population expansion.

The conference has before it a prediction that without effective action, Asia's population will grow four times by the year 2000.

Japan's Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Takeo Miki, declared open the conference, which is sponsored by the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE). Results from the discussions in Tokyo will be forwarded to a world population conference planned for 1974.

ECAFE's Executive Secretary, U. Nyun, noted that while family planning programme have made a great deal of progress, there was still a long way to go.

U. Nyun said there is a sense of urgency and need for action but it should not lead to proposals which only give short-lived results.planning should think in terms of decades shoed.