# Reference Material on Japan's ODA

Section 1. History of Japan’s Assistance to Developing Countries (1945 to October 2008)

Month/Year	Major Developments in Japanese Aid	1945	Month/Year	International Developments in Aid
Jul. 1946	Provision of food and medical supplies to Japan under the Government Aid and Relief in Occupied Areas (GARIOA) plan begins.	Dec. 1945	Dec. 1945	Bretton Woods Convention comes into effect. International Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, "World Bank") are founded.
Aug. 1948	Provision of material supplies to Japan under the Economic Rehabilitation in Occupied Areas (EROA) plan begins.	Dec. 1946	Mar. 1947	United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is founded. * It started as the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.
Jun. 1947	Jun. 1947	United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) is founded. European Recovery Program ("Marshall Plan") is announced.
Dec. 1950	Export Bank of Japan is founded (renamed Export-Import Bank of Japan in April 1952)	Jan. 1949	Dec. 1949	Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) is established by the Soviet Union and five countries of Eastern Europe.
Jan. 1950	Jun. 1950	Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic Development in South and Southeast Asia is inaugurated.
Dec. 1950	Dec. 1950	Korean War begins. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is founded.
Aug. 1952	Japan joins the World Bank and the IMF.
Aug. 1952	A basic reparations policy is formulated.
Jan. 1953	World Bank makes its first loans to Japan.
Apr. 1954	Asian Cooperation Foundation is founded.
Oct. 1954	Japan participates in the Colombo Plan.
Nov. 1954	Japan-Burma Peace Treaty and the Agreement on Reparations and Economic Cooperation are signed.
Jul. 1955	Agreement between Japan and Thailand concerning Settlement of "Special Yen Problem" is signed.	1955	Apr. 1955	Conference of African and Asian Nations is held in Bandung.
Sep. 1955	Japan joins the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
May 1956	Japan-Philippines Agreement on Reparations is signed.
Jan. 1958	Japan-Indonesia Peace Treaty and the Agreement on Reparations and Economic Cooperation are signed.	Dec. 1956	Japan is granted membership to the United Nations.
Feb. 1958	Yen Loans begin (Japan-India Exchange of Notes is signed).
Oct. 1958	Japan-Laos Agreement on Economic and Technological Cooperation is signed.	Apr. 1958	1st Conference of Independent African Nations is held.
Mar. 1959	Japan-Cambodia Agreement on Economic and Technological Cooperation is signed.
May 1959	Japan-Viet Nam (Socialist Republic of Viet Nam) Agreement on Reparation is signed.
Mar. 1960	Japan joins Development Assistance Group (DAG) of Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) (later the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)).	Dec. 1959	Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is founded.
Jan. 1960	Development Assistance Group (DAG) is founded.
Dec. 1960	Japan joins the IDA	Sep. 1960	International Development Association (IDA, "Second World Bank") is founded.
Mar. 1961	Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OEEF) is founded.
Jun. 1961	Council of Foreign Economic Cooperation is established.
Sep. 1961	Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is founded. Development Assistance Committee (DAC, formerly DAG) is established.