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    • In the news: Disaster preparedness

    Tactical move? Japan pledges $19B in aid for ASEAN

    Reaffirming its commitment to Southeast Asia, the Japanese government has committed over $19 billion in aid for development and disaster preparedness within ASEAN. Some view the pledge as a move to shore up Japan’s diplomatic position in the region to counter superpower China’s assertive maritime policy.

    By Lean Alfred Santos // 16 December 2013
    Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The country's government has pledged to support Southeast Asian nations' development efforts with $19 billion in aid. Photo by: CSIS / CC BY-NC-SA

    The Japanese government reaffirmed its strong ties with the 10-member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by pledging over the weekend $19 billion in aid to assist the region’s development efforts over the next five years.

    The funding will focus mainly on reducing socioeconomic gaps in ASEAN, where despite sterling economic progress the past couple of years, millions are still mired in poverty. Projects such as infrastructure, education and livelihood will be prioritized, especially in the countries within the Mekong river sub-region.

    Japan also wants to help Southeast Asia prepare better for disasters and carry out climate-resilient sustainable development projects at a time when these seem more urgent than ever, as seen in the devastation brought by Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

    Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been ramping up aid assistance in the region given its strategic geo-political importance. The assistance is widely considered as a stand against China’s assertive maritime policy, not only against Japan but also against the smaller Southeast Asian nations.

    Territorial disputes in the South China Sea have been a long-standing row between Asia’s largest economy and some members of ASEAN in an area considered to hide huge reserves of natural resources, including oil and gas.

    Read more development aid news online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive top international development headlines from the world’s leading donors, news sources and opinion leaders — emailed to you FREE every business day.

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      About the author

      • Lean Alfred Santos

        Lean Alfred Santos@DevexLeanAS

        Lean Alfred Santos is a former Devex development reporter focusing on the development community in Asia-Pacific, including major players such as the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. He previously covered Philippine and international business and economic news, sports and politics.

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