Japan vows to use ODA to promote Indo-Pacific initiative

February 23, 2018

Tokyo- The Japanese government plans to strategically utilize its official development assistance as a means to promote Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's goal of making the Indo-Pacific region free and open, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Specifically, Japan will promote the development of infrastructure, such as ports, airports, railroads and roads, in the region to enhance the flow of people and goods there, the ministry said in its annual white paper on development assistance.

The report said Japan will also help countries in the region, mainly in Asia, improve their law enforcement capabilities at sea through the supply of patrol vessels, equipment and experts to realize maritime order based on the rule of law.

In 2016, Japan's net ODA spending, which excludes yen loans repaid, increased 13.2 pct from the previous year to 10,416.8 million dollars, making the country the fourth largest ODA contributor in the world after the United States, Germany and Britain. Jiji Press