Section 6. Contributions to Solving the North-South Problem
Never before has Japan been asked, as it is today, to extend greater international cooperation and play a more important role on a global scale in creating a new world order in carrying out its economic policies at a time when the international economic situation continues to shake violently. This is also true of its international economic cooperation with the Third World. Now with the economic power it has acquired through high economic growth, Japan must endeavor to provide development aid for the construction of an economic community on the basis of self-help by the developing countries, thereby contributing to the peace and prosperity of the world. It is an international obligation for Japan, as an advanced industrial country, to play such a role. At the same time, it is believed that Japan's contributions to the harmonious development of the world economy through development aid coincide with the ultimate national interests of Japan, and the Government intends to try to improve and increase its development aid in accordance with the policies explained above.
Although the total amount of Japan's foreign economic aid has grown to a size next to that of the United States, its official development aid (ODA), which forms the core of such aid, is not yet satisfactory, quantitatively and qualitatively. To improve its official development aid, Japan needs to continue making its best efforts to achieve, quantitatively, the international target of offering the equivalent of 0.7 par cent of its GNP in official development aid, as pledged at the third UNCTAD. Qualitatively, it needs to make more efforts to increase the proportion of grants, ease lending terms and untie aid and also diversify the forms of aid and increase aid in the social development sector. In addition to these measures, it is also considered important to expand the areas to which Japan offers aid from Asian countries to Central and South America, the Middle and Near East and Africa in order to promote economic aid capable of meeting specific regional requirements as well as to improve Japan's domestic aid system.