LASA/EANLAS: Rethinking Trans-Pacific Ties: Asia and Latin America

Japan’s new ODA approach to Latin America from 2000 to 2020

• In Event: Asia-Latin America cooperation

Abstract

Since the end of the 1990s, Japan has reduced its Official Development Assistance (ODA) flows to Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). What can explain the Japanese ODA cuts to the LAC region? First, in response to the so-called South-to-South Cooperation, Japan has shared ODA burdens and created synergies throughout the Triangular Cooperation (North-South-South) scheme with Latin-American ODA emerging donors (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico). Second, Japan’s ODA policy has associated aid with security. Since the late 1990s, Japanese ODA to LAC has been predominantly delivered in knowledge-intensive areas of human security: food security, health, as well as the prevention and mitigation of natural disasters. Third, following the Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy, Japanese aid practitioners prioritize Asian and African recipients. This geopolitical shift has somewhat influenced the Japanese Triangular Cooperation in LAC as well. For the most part, Japan’s Triangular Cooperation to LAC has benefited third countries in the region. However, the trilateral aid cooperation now includes countries in located Africa. This article examines how Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico fit in the Japanese international cooperation agenda. The study also analyzes the strengths and limitations of the Japanese Triangular Cooperation to LAC from the perspectives of the Indo-Pacific and South-to-South Cooperation. Finally, the study examines the differences and similarities of Japan’s Triangular Cooperation programs with its Latin American aid partners.

Author

• Erick Gutierrez Macias, National Chengchi University