Japan's Official Development Assistance White Paper 2006
Next PageMain Text > Part II ODA DISBURSEMENTS IN FISCAL YEAR 2005 > Chapter 2 Details about Japan's ODA > Section 5. Formulation and Implementation of ODA Policy > 1. System for Formulation and Implementation of ODA Policy
1. System for Formulation and Implementation of ODA Policy
(1) Coherent Formulation of ODA Policy
In Japan, the Cabinet Office and the 12 ministries56 are involved in ODA. When ODA is implemented, ODA projects that are carried out either directly by the various ministries or through international organizations must be designed and executed coherently so that ODA has strategic value and yields the maximum results.
As part of policy-based financial institution reform, the operations of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the implementing agency for yen loans, was discussed in 2005. It was not sufficient to reform JBIC simply from economic and financial viewpoints, but rather from the perspective that ODA plays a major role in Japanese diplomacy and that the modality of implementing ODA must therefore be examined as a separate issue. From this perspective, the Study Group on Overseas Economic Cooperation was established in December 2005 under the Chief Cabinet Secretary. After holding discussions for two and a half months, this conference submitted a final report in February 2006, which recommended that the Council of Overseas Economic Cooperation-Related Ministers be abolished and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Council be established in its place. In response to this proposal, the Overseas Economic Cooperation Council was established in April 2006. The Overseas Economic Cooperation Council has as its members the Prime Minister, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and conducts flexible and substantive discussions of important matters concerning overseas economic cooperation. Japan intends to cooperate and collaborate with various actors in the international community based on the strategies formulated in the Overseas Economic Cooperation Council, as well as the ODA Charter, the Medium-Term Policy on ODA and Country Assistance Programs, and thereby develop and implement consistent assistance policies and assistance activities through ODA.