Reforming Official Development Assistance (ODA) in Japan

PROPOSAL - 2.
Reforming ODA Programs: Assistance through Partnership Programs with Private Sector

The tax burden on every Japanese people is increasing because of increase in taxes including that on consumption while fiscal deficit is still on rise. Otherwise, under such condition Japanese Government will lose support of its people if it will increase assistance budget as in the past. ODA administration should therefore receive a complete review, including the budget allocation and how the budget is spent. The Government should make itself ready for the nationwide discussion over promotion of implementing effective assistance programs under a limited budget before reform of the administrative structure as proposed in the above PROPOSAL - 1.
Now the Government is taking responsibility on all phases of ODA administration including planning, implementation and evaluation, leaving private institutions as a sub-let vendor on implementation phase. However, the government should actively utilize the expertise, knowledge, personnel and money of private sector if it wants to raise efficiency and spill-over effects of its assistance programs as in the following:

[2 – 1] Formulation of a comprehensive assistance program through the Government - private sector partnership

To effectively implement ODA, it is necessary to comprehensively formulate regional, bilateral, and sector-based assistance programs based on a government-private sector consultation forum. Due attention must be paid on how to make the best use of available fund -as well as on how to most effectively assist economic development of recipients- taking account on fund, know-how, and expertise of private sector including businesses and NGOs.
It must be remembered that such a comprehensive assistance program must be well understood by the governments and private sector of the recipient countries before implementation through continuous dialogues.
Also upon formulation of such a comprehensive assistance program, Japan should try to coordinate and promote joint implementation efforts with other donor countries and international organizations in order to maximize the efficiency of the Japanese assistance.

[2 – 2] Partnership with private sector during all phases of assistance (planning, implementation, and evaluation)

The Government must seek the best possible ways to plan, implement and evaluate its comprehensive assistance programs as mentioned above, through partnership efforts with private sector. It should pay a special attention that this process must be started from the first stage of planning. JAIDO (Japan International Development Organization), a company jointly established by the Government and private sector to promote export-oriented projects in developing countries, should be well-utilized in order to secure fairness, justice, and neutrality. Post-implementation evaluation must be conducted by a group of third-party professional that include non-government officials for the same reason. For the implementation phase, a clear and transparent system must be introduced by a variety of means that include open-recruitment of professionals.