Japan has set aside approximately 572.7 billion Japanese yen (USD7.04 billion) for foreign aid in fiscal 2011. The amount is 7.4 percent lower than the 2010 volume.
The total includes 151.9 billion Japanese yen worth of grants and 145.7 billion yen in technical assistance, according to Kyodo News International.
The sum excludes aid funded by special accounts and the country’s contributions to several aid organizations. Including those, Japan’s total official development assistance is due to go up by 1.93 trillion yen.
Japan’s fiscal year starts April 1.
Meantime, Japan International Cooperation Agency President Sadako Ogata has said the agency will continue to advance new projects in Africa and maintain a strong presence in Afghanistan while boosting Japanese support for Sri Lanka and the Middle East in 2011. JICA will also continue its reorganization, with some 100 staff expected to be moved from the head office to field positions “in the very near future,” Ogata said in an in-house interview in late December.
Japan had opened consultations with China regarding Africa’s development, the JICA president added, explaining that healthy competition will benefit the region. Pakistan is also high on the agency’s agenda, she said.
