Press Releases

1. On Friday, September 19, the Fifth Asian Development Forum was held in Hanoi, Vietnam. Relevant officials from Asian countries and relevant International Organizations such as ADB (Asian Development Bank) President, Mr. Takehiko Nakao attended the meeting, while Ambassador, Deputy Director General, International Cooperation Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Mr. Takeshi Osuga, Deputy Director-General, International Bureau of the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Masanori Yoshida and Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Mr. Kiyoshi Kodera attended from the Japanese side.

2. Under the theme of “Challenges and Strategies towards Sustained Growth of Asia,” the future direction of development cooperation about challenges faced by middle income countries, development finances for sustained growth, and knowledge sharing and mutual learning was discussed from the perspectives of Asian countries in the meeting.

3. At the forum, the participants shared the view that (1) in terms of development cooperation for sustained growth of Asia, a “people-centered” approach should be taken, and a global partnership where multi-stakeholders participate is necessary, (2) people-centered investment which leads to employment creation and capacity-building should be promoted, (3) it is important to consider environmental and social factors and to realize optimal sharing of responsibility and risks between the public and private sectors in the course of infrastructure development, and (4) the Official Development Assistance (ODA) and assistance by multilateral development banks such as ADB continues to be important to address challenges faced by middle income countries.

4. The Asian Development Forum was established through cooperation between Japan and the Republic of Korea, and the past host countries (Japan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Indonesia) have been cooperating with the host country in its management. Under the leadership of Vietnam, the host country this time, especially Japan and the Republic of Korea have constructively contributed to the management and discussions of the forum through their close collaboration.