Japan to focus foreign aid on African development, climate change
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TOKYO, Dec. 21 — Japan underscored in a government report Friday its eagerness to take the lead in helping developing nations fight global warming and facilitating international efforts to support African development as host of two key conferences next year.
The White Paper on Official Development Assistance 2007 also noted the need for Japan to press China and other emerging donor nations for greater transparency in their aid provision. It also said Japan must consider ‘’comprehensively and strategically'’ how to continue its economic cooperation with rapidly developing China.
‘’The sustainable implementation of ODA is dependent on understanding and cooperation from the public,'’ Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said after the report was released. ‘’This year we have highlighted the issues of climate change, African development and cooperation between the public and private sectors.'’
The annual ODA report described 2008 as an ‘’extremely important year'’ for Japan, as it is set to host the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in May and the Group of Eight nations’ summit in July.
‘’At TICAD, Japan’s ability to gather international wisdom and funds for African development will be tested. Meanwhile, at the G-8 Lake Toya summit in Hokkaido, Japan will need to exercise leadership as G-8 president in tackling climate change,'’ the paper said.
On aid for Africa, the report included a five-page special section in relation to the TICAD process, which has been held once every five years since 1993, and stressed the importance of assistance not only for development but also for human security and environmental measures.
‘’How to help Africa strengthen its own abilities in maintaining and consolidating peace is a task that Japan is facing,'’ the report said.
Regarding measures for climate change, which is expected to be a highlight of the G-8 summit, Japan said it hopes to share with developing nations its own lessons from pollution in the 1970s and its current energy-efficient and environmentally friendly technologies.
‘’Stepping up Japan’s assistance for developing nations is one way to persuade these countries, which are currently not bound by the obligation to cut greenhouse gas emissions, to take part in the international anti-global warming framework,'’ the report said.
Meanwhile, the report noted that China has rapidly increased its aid to other developing nations in recent years but that there remain international concerns over the implementation and governance of the assistance as well as a lack of revelation of information.
‘’On implementing economic cooperation with China, we must first conclude that it is appropriate to do so from a comprehensive and strategic viewpoint and that it is in Japan’s national interest,'’ the report said, adding that overall Japan-China relations and circumstances involving China must be taken into consideration.
The release of the white paper came a day after the Finance Ministry proposed in its draft national budget cutting ODA by 4 percent, down for the ninth straight year, to 700.2 billion yen for fiscal 2008 beginning April 1.
Japan’s actual foreign aid spending in calendar year 2006, including extra funds from the supplementary and special account budgets and official yen loans, totaled roughly $11.19 billion, or about 1.3 trillion yen, at net value, down 14.9 percent from the previous year.
As a result, Japan was replaced by Britain as the world’s second-largest donor and fell to third place for the first time since 1982.
The Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that if Japan continues ODA reductions at this pace, it will fall to fifth place by around 2010, the report said in a footnote.
A Foreign Ministry official said in briefing reporters that the latest figures show Japan may even fall to sixth place.
The white paper will be available to the public in Japanese in January, and in English around February or March, the official said.
Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Development, Climate Change