Japan wanted member states to negotiate intensively its financial contribution to the UN in 2006, a Japanese official said Thursday.

Yoshinori Katori, the press secretary of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, told reporters at UN headquarters in New York that Japan wanted to realize a more equitable and balanced way of burden- sharing from the Japanese point of view.

However, he stressed that this question has no linkage with Japan's bid for the permanent seat of the Security Council.

He noted that Japan is not going to "touch upon this issue this time in New York," referring to the three-day UN summit that is being held with the participation of 153 heads of state and government.

"We understand there will be an opportunity to negotiate this issue intensively next year," he said.

In 2005, the UN budget, or contributions from UN members, totaled US$1.83 billion, of which US$338 million, or 19.47 percent, came from Japan.

(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2005)