Japan's ODA helps developing nations to overcome crisis: white report+

TOKYO, March 9 Kyodo -
Japan's official development assistance has played a significant role in
helping developing countries to address and overcome the global financial
crisis since the autumn of 2008, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The government will continue to enhance ODA to Asian and African developing
countries that are expected to achieve high economic growth, the ministry said
in its annual ODA report.
It will also take advantage of ODA to support the restoration of Afghanistan
and the stabilization of Pakistan in accordance with the foreign policy of
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government inaugurated last September.
Reflecting the Hatoyama government's proactive attitude toward reducing global
warming gas emissions, the report also noted the government will utilize ODA
for efforts to cut such emissions in developing countries.
The report said Japan's ODA in 2008 expanded 24.7 percent from the previous
year to $9.58 billion on a 45 percent jump in contributions to international
organizations and the yen's appreciation against the dollar. This was the first
rise in three years.
In ODA spending, Japan ranked fifth in the world in the year, following the
United States, Germany, Britain and France. The Japanese ranking remained
unchanged from the previous year.
==Kyodo
2010-03-10 00:22:22