## Section 4 Japan's ODA to Each Region

In the new ODA Charter, it is specified that Japan should place importance on Asia, which has close relationships with Japan and has great effects on the security and prosperity of Japan, and also that Japan should place a high priority on other regions as well in consideration of the demands for assistance and the level of development of each region. Japan's ODA to each region is as follows.

### 1. East Asia

Japan's ODA given to East Asia on a bilateral basis totaled approximately 1,893.89 million dollars in 2003, accounting for 31.5% of the total bilateral ODA.

Traditionally, Japan has considered Asia as a very important region for diplomacy. The ODA Charter reflects this tradition and placed great importance on Asia. In particular, Japan has close relationships with East Asian countries in all aspects including politics, economy, and culture. Therefore, the development and security of East Asia is indispensable for the security and prosperity of Japan. Japan has contributed to the dramatic development of East Asia through economic assistance to the region. Japan gave East Asia ODA to enhance economic infrastructures and also provided the region with private investment and stimulated trade between the region and Japan. By synergistically combining ODA and other assistance mentioned above, Japan hopes to make its assistance to the region more effective.

In East Asia, some countries whose economies grew at a fast pace such as the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Singapore have transformed themselves from a receiver of assistance to a provider of assistance, while some other countries such as Cambodia and Laos are still under-developed. China is one of the East Asian countries whose economies have developed dramatically in recent years. China, however, has many domestic problems to solve. When Japan provides assistance to East Asia, it takes into consideration such diversity in social and economic conditions of each country and changes in the demands for assistance.

Regarding Japan's assistance to ASEAN, Japan actively supports ASEAN member countries through ODA in order to narrow the gaps among member countries widened due to an increase in the number of member countries. Other purposes of the provision of ODA to ASEAN include the establishment of systems to facilitate private trade and investment, support for the creation of economic and social infrastructure, promotion of human resources development and environmental protection, preparation of policies for economic system reform, decentralization of power from the central government to local governments, enhancement of governance, prevention of terrorism and piracy, and solution of other borderless problems. When Japan gives assistance to ASEAN, it takes into consideration such issues as strengthening of economic coordination in East Asia.

Japan will continue to provide assistance to ASEAN member countries in consideration of the social and economic situations and development level of each country, aiming to assist them to fully get over the economic and financial crises and to reduce poverty through economic growth. At the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit Meeting held in Tokyo in December 2003, Japan announced its intention to provide assistance to the IAI (Initiative for ASEAN Integration) $ ^{*1} $ and BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area) $ ^{*2} $ in an attempt to help reduce poverty and regional gaps. In addition to this, Japan also pledged to give approximately 1.5 billion dollars over the next three years as assistance to the development of the Mekong region. Furthermore, Japan announced its plan to give assistance of more than 1.5 billion dollars over the next three years for human resources development and also to implement a program to exchange approximately 40,000 people. As the new member countries $ ^{25} $ of ASEAN are relatively less developed, Japan assisted those countries to make the transition to market economy, to reduce poverty, to satisfy the

## $ ^{*} $ I: IAI (Initiative for ASEAN Integration)

This is a project agreed on at the fourth ASEAN Informal Summit in November 2000 in order to narrow the gaps among ASEAN member countries to make the ASEAN region more competitive. After the commencement of the project, it was agreed to put emphasis on human resources development, information and telecommunications technology advancement, infrastructure building, and regional economic unification.

$ ^{*} $ 2: BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area)

This is a project to develop peripheral areas such as Borneo Island (Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia), Mindanao Island (Philippines), and Sulawesi Island (Indonesia) through cooperation among the relevant four countries.