Word: japanism
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...move, announced this week, will unite two government bodies that previously administered aid separately - the Foreign Ministry and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation - under the umbrella of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The revamped agency's annual budget of more than $10 billion puts it in the same league as the Asian Development Bank and the U.S. Agency for International Development. With the sagging economy, which many - including Prime Minister Taro Aso - say is already in recession, the reorganization doesn't necessarily mean more money, just a more efficent way at dispensing it. JICA expects the change...
...Japan, which has the world's second-largest economy, was the No. 1 provider of overseas aid in the 1990s. After years of sluggish economic growth, the country ranks fifth among donor nations according to the organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (Aid has fallen by about 40% and is a hit to Japan's diplomatic clout). In an Oct. 3 speech, Sadako Ogata, JICA's president since 2003, chided Japanese society for its lack of support of foreign aid and questioned the country's ability to play a leadership role in areas such as alternative energy development...
...Japan's motives are not entirely altruistic. The economic rise of China, India and other countries means resource-poor Japan faces increasing competition for commodities such as oil and metals. Foreign aid is a way to cement relationships with potential trade partners. Development experts such as Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to the United Nation's Secretary General on development goals, say that China is providing billions of dollars each year to Africa, although no one knows the official figure. Japan's trade with Africa, about $25 billion, is about one third of China's trade with the continent. Tokyo...
...Ogata acknowledges that "China will be a strong competitor," adding that there were "positive results" of the country's larger role in African development. She says she hopes JICA and China can collaborate in the manner that Japan does with other countries. In the meantime, Africa can only hope that both of its suitors follow through on their promises...
...more photos from Japan, click here...