March 1, 2024
On March 1, the first meeting of the Advisory Panel on New Financing for Development was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan.
- The Advisory Panel was established to deliberate policies for new financing for development and to strengthen collaboration with various actors from both the public and private sectors.
- At the outset of the meeting, Minister Kamikawa stated that leveraging sustainable financial resources, such as impact investment and Environmental, Social, and Government (ESG) investment, has become an international challenge, as many private-sector companies and investors have come to actively promote sustainable finance – finance for achieving a sustainable society – and, at the same time, the importance of private finance for developing countries is growing. She further stated that in light of these developments, it is extremely important to explore new ways in which Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) should be implemented, including how to mobilize private finance by using ODA as a catalyst, in collaboration with various stakeholders, without being constrained by past precedent. She asked the Advisory Panel to discuss the role that ODA should play today and the future of international cooperation.
- The Chair of the Advisory Panel, Professor OHNO Izumi, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, stated that, amid major changes to the environment around international development and the rapid increase in financial resources that can contribute to resolving developing countries’ social issues and global challenges in domains outside ODA, there is a need for a “model change” in development cooperation through ODA. In addition, the members of the Advisory Panel held a lively and wide-ranging discussion on topics such as challenges of Japan’s development cooperation in mobilizing finance and points to consider for resolving them, as well as the potential of coordination between ODA and sustainable finance.
- It was decided that in subsequent meetings, the Advisory Panel will discuss each individual issue and continue to build on its discussions with the aim of submitting its recommendations to Minister Kamikawa by around the summer of this year.