Britain and Japan in the Developing World

This sixth seminar in the 2009 seminar series, ‘Changing World Views: International Challenges for the UK and Japan’, looked at the particular roles played by Japan and Britain in international development assistance. As highlighted in the recently-published ‘Millennium Development Goals Report’ (2009), the global economic crisis is heightening the pressures on donor nations, adversely affecting aid budgets and policy decisions. Criticisms have been directed at those countries lagging behind the UN target of committing 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income to overseas development assistance by 2015.

Summary

Mr Kimiaki Jin, Chief Representative of JICA in the UK, set out to comment on three issues: the recent trend in Japan’s overseas development aid (ODA) and the creation of the new JICA; JICA’s activities, primarily in Africa and the possibility of UK-Japan collaboration.

Japan was the world’s biggest ODA donor from 1991 to 2000, began Jin, but by 2007 had dropped to fifth place; its budget for 2009 was less than 60% of that reached at its peak. Despite these constraints, at the 2005 G8 meeting in Gleneagles, Japan expressed the intention of increasing its ODA by $10 billion by 2010 and in 2008 pledged to double its ODA to Africa by 2012. Japan has also made a series of pledges in the last year, indicating an increase in its ODA provisions compared to last year. The UN target of committing 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) to ODA, however, looks unlikely in the short term as the priorities of the recently elected Japanese government, led by the Democratic Party of Japan, are to review public works and strengthen welfare provisions, remarked Jin.

Describing the new JICA, Jin explained that it was created in October 2008 by receiving a grant aid budget from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and by merging with the concessional loan section of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. This has made it the largest bilateral development agency and allowed it scope to operate more effectively and more simply as a single agency.

Turning to JICA’s activities in the field, Jin began by stating that Madam Ogata, president of JICA, sees Africa as a priority area. JICA’s emphasis in Africa lies in five areas: education, health, water, infrastructure and agriculture. Jin then went on to give examples of its work in the field.

The development of southern Sudan became an urgent task following the peace agreement concluded between north and south Sudan in 2005 and JICA launched a technical cooperation project in 2006 to help develop the infrastructure of Juba, chosen as south Sudan’s capital – regarding this as an important way of cementing the peace.

Cross border infrastructure is also a priority in Africa, stated Jin, as one third of the African population lives in landlocked countries, making access to ports and markets extremely difficult and dependent on the good will of neighbouring countries. Japan is assisting African countries overcome this obstacle through road rehabilitation, bridge construction and the expansion of ports.

Assistance with agriculture is also imperative, asserted Jin, as 70% of Sub-Saharan Africans are farmers and agricultural yield needs to increase in order to reduce poverty in Africa. Maize yields are one third of the world’s average and rice, two fifths. JICA wants to help double rice production within ten years, as a way of boosting African agriculture.

Jin finished on a positive note, turning to the potential for JICA cooperation with DFID. As the latter is influential in the international forum and in policy-level discussions with recipient governments and JICA is concentrating more on helping in the field and with technology issues, noted Jin, linking the practical with policy issues could be a potential UK-Japan pillar for collaboration. Collaboration between the two in academic research would also be valuable, something which JICA has not engaged in much up until now but which will change given the recent development of its own research institute, with the aim of focusing on peace and development, growth and poverty reduction, environment and development and aid strategies.

The second speaker, Dr Kweku Ampiah, turned his attention to the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) and the national ownership of development. Ampiah remarked that despite the fact that Japan is often described as an ‘economic giant but a political dwarf’, the truth is that it plays an important political role having, for example, almost singlehandedly improved the South East Asian economy and being, conceivably, the only country able to turn around the economy of a whole post-colonial area.

Kweku went on to say that TICAD, not widely known and mainly a Japanese initiative, was launched in 1993 with its Tokyo Declaration on Africa Development which advocated economic reform through diversification and liberalisation, poverty reduction and political reforms. It is a multilateral grouping orchestrated by Japan to promote sustainable economic development in Africa. TICAD meets every five years and has follow-up meeting to monitor progress.

Ampiah posited that other countries can perhaps learn from Japan how to help post-colonial states improve their economic situation. With TICAD, for example, in which Japan plays a central role in the discourse on African economic development, political, economic and social reforms are not imposed, but must be initiated and carried out by the African countries themselves, based on their own values, visions and situation.

In highlighting TICAD achievements, Ampiah concluded on a positive note by showing TICAD’s continuing commitment to African ownership of its own development; TICAD II, the Tokyo Agenda for Action, adopted the premise that, ‘Ownership is derived when the development priorities, as set by Africans, are pursued’. Ampiah is hopeful that through TICAD, the Asian development story can be shared with Africa.

The final speaker, Mr Eamon Cassidy, set out to explain what DFID is, talk about its recently published White Paper and list its challenges.

DFID was part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office until 1997 when it became a separate department, allowing it its own Minister and a voice equal to that of other government departments. Cassidy went on to say that DFID has gradually moved from being an aid agency to an international relations department and to sector-wide and programme-wide approaches rather than concentrating on bilateral projects. DFID is not about managing projects but about helping to bring about fundamental change.

Cassidy went on to talk about its recent White Paper, which outlines significant progress over the last ten years including a fall in the proportion of people living in poverty, an increase in the number of children going to school and a reduction in child mortality; admittedly not much of this is happening in Africa, observed Cassidy, and more does have to be done. The White Paper focuses on four key areas – climate change, fair and sustainable growth, focus on conflict and reform of the international system.

Though DFID is on track to meet the UN target of committing 0.7% of GNI to ODA by 2013, remarked Cassidy, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) are under threat and off track, particularly in Africa, due to the economic downturn which struck last year. DFID is, nevertheless, committed to supporting eight million children in African schools, to scaling up support for maternal and newborn health and to giving a higher priority to tackling malnutrition.

Cassidy concluded by remarking that 2010 will be a significant year for development as it is five years on from Gleneagles and five years before the MDG deadline. On a positive note, Cassidy noted that the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon has recommended a MDG-focused UN Summit in 2010 and that President Obama is committed to the MDG.

A series of questions and comments followed the presentations, including how the new JICA’s expertise and capacity especially in the context of Africa has been enhanced, why the failure at disseminating TICAD’s accomplishments, the issue of asylum seekers escaping states in conflict, the difference in status between JICA and DFID and the threat of an imminent famine in Ethiopia and the likelihood of a UK or Japan-lead in tackling this.

The Chair, Professor Arthur Stockwin, concluded proceedings by thanking the three speakers for passionate and fascinating presentations.

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