Tanjung Priok Gas Fired Power Plant in Indonesia

(Photo: JBIC)

assist poor countries in developing infrastructure, institutions and human resources for paving the way for the promotion of investment and trade. Japan has also propelled the conclusion of bilateral investment treaties as an effective means to promote introduction of new capital funds, technologies and management know-how. These bilateral investment treaties are designed to expand and promote investment through the protection and liberalization of investment (see page 101 of the ODA White Paper 2003 for relations between trade, investment and development).

In addition to the above assistance in the development of infrastructure, policies, institutions and human resources, Japan at the Japan-ASEAN special summit in December 2003 presented an initiative for the integration between economic cooperation and the promotion of trade and investment, with regard to the expansion of assistance in the Mekong region. As a sphere of this initiative in the fiscal year of 2003, Japan dispatched JETRO experts to GMS-BF, which consists of chambers of commerce and industry in six countries in the Mekong region-Cambodia, China (Yunnan Province), Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, for strengthening the function of it in each country. These experts visited each chamber of commerce and industry, and assisted in the preparation of business directories, expansion of web pages, and planning and implementation of exhibitions of other trade promotion projects. As national markets in each country of the Mekong region are small, their prospect in economic growth is limited. Therefore, they are looking for the prospect of economic growth, through the promotion of international trade and the integration into the world market. The functional development of GMS-BF is expected to contribute to economic invigoration of the region.

In fiscal year 2003, Japan also decided to provide a Yen loan for Indonesia's Tanjung Priok gas-fired power plant extension project to help improve the country's investment climate. Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri designated 2003 as the year for the promotion of investment and indicated her resolve to proactively promote acceptance of foreign investment. In response, Japan gave top priority in Yen loans for Indonesia to economic infrastructure development for the country's achievement of sustainable economic growth. The project is designed to extend a power plant in a Jakarta suburb that features strong electricity demand as part of the Java-Bali electricity system, a major power supply network in Indonesia. This is expected to contribute to improving Indonesia's investment climate.

For Egypt that has had a chronic trade deficit and adopted the export promotion as a major policy, Japan sent experts for long and short terms in that country and accepted Egyptian trainees in regard to studies on human resources development needs, training program implementation and project planning for the Egyptian trade training center project, which is aimed at enhancing the development of human resources for trade business.

The public-private partnership must be enhanced for promoting private sector investment in developing countries. In order to assist developing countries in their investment promotion efforts for their sustainable development from this viewpoint, Japan has propelled investment in developing countries by utilizing ODA and other official funds for investment financing, guarantees and insurance to ease investment risks for private enterprises. In this respect, the