(“A Decade toward the Green Mekong” Initiative), and Overcoming Vulnerability, and 3) Expansion of Cooperation and Exchanges. Japan continues the policy to expand its ODA to CLV countries respectively as well as to the Mekong region as a whole. Japan committed more than ¥500 billion of ODA in the next three years for the Mekong region to promote this initiative. Also, Japan announced the concept for the Decade Toward a Green Mekong at the Third Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in July 2010. In October 2010, the Second Mekong-Japan Summit Meeting between the heads of Japan and the Mekong region countries was held, and the Action Plan for “A Decade toward the Green Mekong” Initiative and the “Mekong-Japan Economic and Industrial Cooperation Initiative (MJ-CI) Action Plan” were adopted.

Additionally, economic partnership agreements (EPA) between Japan and Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, and ASEAN as a whole went into effect in 2008. An agreement between Japan and Viet Nam also entered into force in October 2009. With these EPAs, Japan has been working to expand trade and investments and enhance wide-ranging economic relations that include the improvement of distribution systems and the harmonization of economic systems such as intellectual property systems and competition policies. Through these efforts, Japan works to reduce poverty, and supports regional integration by rectifying disparity within the ASEAN region. ASEAN adopted “ASEAN Plan for Connectivity” at its summit in October 2010 in order to enhance intra-ASEAN connectivity in fields such as infrastructure, institutions, and personal exchanges. Japan supports further elaboration of this master plan through ODA and joint initiatives between the public and private sectors. What is more, Japan also engages in peacebuilding activities, including concentrated support for the former conflict region of Mindanao in the Philippines and nation building support for Timor-Leste.

Japan reinforces its collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which works on a range of regional cooperation initiatives in the Asian region. For instance, in order to support Asian developing countries, Japan has established the Accelerated Co-Financing scheme with ADB (ACFA) which enhances cooperation between ADB and the new JICA, the Investment Climate Financing Fund (ICFF), and the Asian Clean Energy Fund (ACEF), under the Enhanced Sustainable Development for Asia (ESDA) initiative to promote investment and energy efficiency in the region. In addition, Japan collaborates with the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), an international research organization in East Asia, with varying levels of cooperation such as the Comprehensive Asian Development Plan (CADP) and the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity.

Furthermore, on the financial front in particular Japan is leading the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI) through the ASEAN+3 framework. This initiative is designed to prevent a chain reaction of crises and its expansion by means of providing short-term foreign currency financing for countries in which critical circumstances have arisen, such as obstacles arising in their foreign currency payments due to precipitous outflows of capital. What is more, in March 2010 a Multilateralization Agreement was issued which changed the former CMI framework, which was based on agreements between bilateral authorities, to a framework based on a single agreement for expediting and facilitating assistance. This enabled faster responses to the international balance of payments within the ASEAN+3 region as well as to the difficulties with liquidity in short-term financing, and thereby strengthened capacity for dealing with the risks and challenges of an expanding global economy.

In conjunction with the CMI, Japan leads initiatives to foster an East Asian bond market. In particular, in May 2010 the decision was made to establish the Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF) in order to ensure bonds issued by Asian companies that are denominated in local currencies. This will serve as an ADB trust fund with initial capital on the order of US$700 million. Japan has contributed US$200 million through JBIC.