Foreign Minister Taro Aso indicated Thursday he is skeptical of the role that Europe's official development assistance plays in Africa, given that development on the continent hasn't grown the way it has in Asia.
Speaking on the basis that Europe mainly facilitates ODA for Africa and Japan for Asia, Aso said he is curious why things do not work well for Africa, unlike in Asia, where development "took off" to a good pace, citing the cases of Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.
Aso reckoned Japan's ODA has contributed to the development of other parts of Asia.
The foreign minister made the remarks during the 25th session of the Comprehensive ODA Strategy, which was convened by a panel to review ODA policies and discuss ways to bring about aid reforms.
During the meeting, the panel basically agreed on several measures, including a more consolidated way of creating an aid plan for each country and setting a numerical cost-reduction target for grant aid.
It also agreed to strengthen the ODA monitoring system, such as by engaging in thorough postevaluations of grant cooperation.
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