Paris, March 31 {No.2000-29} - UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, on a visit to Japan, and Takayasu Okushima, the President of Waseda University, today signed a co-operation agreement in Tokyo.

The accord stipulates that the University, one of Japan's leading private institutions of higher education, will provide academic expertise and technical assistance in co-operation projects concerning those UNESCO activities which fall within the competence of the Tokyo-based higher education establishment.

The agreement, signed in Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the presence of the Director of Department of Cultural Exchanges, Azusa Hayashi, aims to reinforce the longstanding co-operation between the Waseda University and UNESCO.

Notable examples of co-operation with the University include: the participation of Waseda in the restoration of Angkor Wat in Cambodia; the discovery - with the help of satellite technology - of an ancient Egyptian tomb in Dahashur (near Cairo) by a team from the University contributing to UNESCO's Space Archaeology Project; the launch of the World Heritage as It Is project to construct a high definition image and sound database of World Heritage sites.

The two bodies will meet at least once every three years to identify fields of global co-operation, define new programmes, evaluate and modify existing programmes.