Development Cooperation of Japan
The foundation of Japan’s development cooperation policy is the Development Cooperation Charter (decided by the Cabinet in February 2015). The Development Cooperation Charter defines Japan’s basic policies as contributing even more proactively to securing the peace, stability, and prosperity of the international community from the perspective of “Proactive Contribution to Peace” based on the principle of international cooperation, and securing the national interests of Japan through these efforts. The ever more strategic and effective use of Official Development Assistance (ODA) is required as one of the most important foreign policy tools (the Development Cooperation Charter is published on Development Cooperation Charter and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website)1.
1. Japan’s basic policies of the Development Cooperation Charter
The Development Cooperation Charter identifies the following three basic policies for Japan’s development cooperation for the aforementioned objectives: contributing to peace and prosperity through cooperation for non-military purposes, promoting human security, and cooperation aimed at self-reliant development through assistance for self-help efforts as well as dialogue and collaboration based on Japan’s experience and expertise.
2. Priority issues of the Development Cooperation Charter
In line with the basic policies described above, Japan will promote cooperation in accordance with the following three priority issues: “quality growth” and poverty eradication through such growth, sharing universal values and realizing a peaceful and secure society, and building a sustainable and resilient international community through efforts to address global challenges.
Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA)
• What is ODA?
Development cooperation refers to “international cooperation activities that are conducted by the government and its affiliated agencies for the main purpose of development in developing regions,” and ODA is public funding for those activities. The government or governmental implementing agencies provide funds (grants, loans, etc.) and technical assistance to developing countries or international organizations through ODA for the “development” of the developing countries, including peacebuilding, governance, promotion of basic human rights, and humanitarian assistance.
The eligible developing countries and regions are included in the list (see Chart I-10) developed by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
• What types of ODA are there?
ODA can be divided into grants and loan aid. There is also bilateral aid which directly assists developing countries and regions and multilateral aid which is contributions to international organizations.
Grants in bilateral aid are cooperation that is provided to developing countries and regions. They consist of grant aid which provides necessary funds for the development of the society and economy of developing countries and regions without imposing an obligation of repayment, and technical cooperation which develops human resources that will be the actors in the development of the society and economy of developing countries and regions by utilizing the know-how, technology, and experience of Japan. Grants also include contributions to international organizations for specific projects and target countries.
Additionally, loan aid in bilateral aid includes ODA loans for lending the necessary funds to developing countries and regions under concessional terms such as low interest rates and long repayment periods, and Private-Sector Investment Finance which offers loans and investment to corporations and other entities in the private sector responsible for implementing projects in developing countries and regions.
Multilateral aid includes contributions and subscriptions to UN organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), international organizations, and international financial institutions including the World Bank. Most of the contributions are provided as grants, but in recent years, loans have also been used for international financial institutions.
☆Various information about ODA is available on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website 2.