Japan is putting quality over quantity in the Mekong
27 September 2018
Author: Fumitaka Furuoka, University of Malaya

Japan has revamped its strategy in the Mekong. Earlier this year, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s diplomatic right-hand man Kentaro Sonoura delineated Japan’s foreign aid policy for the region, stressing the importance of the aid’s ‘quality’ rather than ‘quantity’. Accordingly, Japan has changed its strategy to focus on improving openness and transparency, human capital development, capacity building and environmental protection throughout its aid to Mekong countries.

There is a notable contrast between China’s and Japan’s aid strategies in the region. China is focussing on supporting ‘hard’ infrastructure projects while Japan is keen to develop ‘soft’ infrastructure.

In the colonial past, the Mekong region was divided between two rival powers — Great Britain and France. With recent developments, the Mekong countries may want to work out an astute and ingenious diplomatic policy in order to counteract potentially contradicting interests in the region. Otherwise, the Mekong countries could once again find themselves becoming a ‘playground’ for rivalling big powers in Asia.

Full article: http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2018/09/27 ... ore-147867