第二次大戦後、援助受け入れ国に転落した日本に対して、国連の専門機関である国際復興開発銀行（通称、世界銀行）が貸し付けた復興資金の総額は８億６０００万ドルにも上り、日本はインドに次ぐ第２位の世銀借り入れ国となった。その貸し付け総額の４９．８％は物流効率化やマイカー時代に対応すべく計画された高速道路の建設に対してであり、また、東海道新幹線建設にはその９．３％、現在の通貨価値にして４０００億ー５０００億もの融資が当時の国鉄の１プロジェクトに対してなされたのである。次いで民間部門において、黒部第四水力、神奈川火力などの大発電所建設をはじめとする各電力会社の能力増大に対しては融資総額の１７．８％、また、鉄鋼メーカー各社の千葉、和歌山など新製鉄所建設並びに既存工場の近代化に対してもその１８．３％が充てられた。

  このように、道路、鉄道、電力、鉄鋼という基幹インフラや基幹産業に対する巨額の融資がなされ、国民の勤勉、努力と相まって、援助受け入れ国の地位から、やがて経済大国へ、そして今やアメリカを抜いて、年間援助額１３０億ドルを超す援助国中トップの座へ短期間で駆け上がったのである。

  この実績は、韓国、台湾など、日本の発展に続こうとする国々にとって良い動機づけとなったであろうし、かつての援助受け入れ国としての実体験から、それまでの援助国がおそらく感じ取れなかったであろう「援助される側の痛み」をよく理解でき、それをきめ細かく役立てる、というユニークさが見られる。

  日本の援助には「福音の伝道」または「ノブレス・オブリジェ」のように恵まれない人々を救うという確固とした西欧的理念のようなものがない、との批判があるが、一部の国のように外圧としての政治的条件を押しつけることなく、むしろその国の「自助努力」の芽を探し出し、育て、支えていくという発想が日本のＯＤＡの特徴といえる。日本のＯＤＡは対ＧＮＰ比率が小さい（０．３２％−国際公約は０．７％）とか、無償資金協力などの贈与要素がＯＥＣＤ開発援助委員会メンバー中最下位に近い、などの問題があり、早晩解決する必要があるが、一方、援助にヒモがつかない率で日本は他国に比べて格段に優れており、日本の援助資金によって設備やサービスが調達される場合、どの国の企業体にも応札する多くの機会が与えられ、それに参加できる当該途上国にとっては自助努力への良き励ましとなっている。

     Following World War II, the United Nation's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) lent Japan--which at the time was a recipient of development assistance--a total of $860 million for its reconstruction efforts. The amount Japan borrowed from the World Bank was second only to that of India. Slightly less that half (49.8%) of the money was used to improve the efficiency of Japan's distribution system and to build expressways to deal with the expected growth in passenger car ownership. A little over 9% (9.3%) went to constructing the Tokaido Shinkansen. The now-defunct Japanese National Railways received loans of between \400-\500 billion in today's yen per project. In the private sector, 17.8% of the World Bank loans was spent to increase the capacity of Japan's electric power companies--which included the construction of superpower plants such as the Kurobe No. 4 hydroelectric power plant and the Kanagawa thermoelectric power plant--while 18.3% was used by Japanese steelmakers to modernize their existing plants and to construct new plants in Chiba, Wakayama and elsewhere.

     Thanks to the loans--which thus went to build Japan's infrastructure (roads and railways) and key industries (electric power and steel)--and thanks to the diligence and hard work of the Japanese people, the country in a very short time rose up from being a recipient of aid to become an economic superpower. And today Japan has unseated America to become the number one donor of develpment assistance, dispersing over $13 billion yen a year.

     Japan's success has helped motivate countries like South Korea and Taiwan that are trying to follow in Japan's tracks. And Japan's experience as a recipient of development assistance has taught it to appreciate the feelings of countries on the receiving end of aid in a way that previous donor countries could not, and this empathy is well reflected in its official development assistance (ODA) policies.

     Japan's ODA has been criticized for lacking a philosophy similar to the West's firm belief in helping people in need, as represented by evangelism and noblesse oblige. Japan's ODA is rather characterized by the idea of helping recipient countries to help themselves and of offering them nurture and support. It does not attach political conditions to aid as a means of forcing recipient countries to change, as some countries are apt to do. Japan's ODA is, however, not without problems: the proportion of Japan's ODA to its GNP is small (0.32%--it has pledged 0.7%) and Japan is near the bottom among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Development Assistance Committee in terms of the proportion and overall volume of grants, technical cooperation and other gratuitous aid provided. These problems must be resolved sooner or later. On the other hand, Japan is head and shoulders above other countries in terms of the proportion of its aid with no strings attached. When goods and services are procured with Japanese aid, firms from all countries are given ample opportunity to tender a bid. Participation in the bidding by firms from the very countries receiving aid helps encourage recipient countries to help themselves.

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Copyright (C) 1998-2010 Jeffrey G. Stocker