:: Japan's Economic Cooperation between Japan and the Kingdom of Tonga

According to the OECD statistics, Japan was the largest donor to the Kingdom of Tonga in 1997. The two vital components of ODA programs are Grant Aid and Technical Cooperation.

Grant Aid

The Grant Aid program has been a major component of Japan’s ODA to Tonga. The threshold for grant aid eligibility is determined according to World Bank statistics and Tonga is above this threshold. However, Japan provides general grant aid to Tonga only for projects in the fisheries and the environmental sectors. Japan also provides Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects (GGP) for grassroots communities, Emergency Aid in such cases as natural disasters, and Cultural Grant Aid for maintaining historical sites and promoting education and culture.

General Grant Aid

The following is a list of projects funded under Japan’s General Grant Aid program since 1991:

The total Grant Aid from 1980 to date has been approximately US$58 million. Specific budgets for each country are not predetermined and projects in each country are judged on their individual merits.

Grant Assistance for Grassroots Project (GGP)

The funding ceiling under the GGP program is normally US$40,000. However, this can be increased to US$400,000 in special cases. A total of 123 projects to the value of approximately US$2.5 million have been funded under this program from 1995 to 2002. The areas targeted are primary education, health, water supply, women in development, environment, small-scale electrification, disability and vocational training.

13 Projects to the value of US$536,035 (approx. T$1,146,555) were funded in the 2002 financial year as follows:

Cultural Grant Aid

The Cultural Grant Aid scheme was introduced in 1975 as part of the official development assistance (ODA) for the purpose of contributing to the promotion of education and cultural activities. This scheme provides a grant of up to ¥50 million per project to cover the procurement cost of equipment to be used for various cultural and educational activities as well as the cost of equipment transportation and installation. The procedures for the execution of Cultural Grant Aid are in general similar to those for General Grant Aid.

Types of Cultural Grant Aid:

The total Cultural Grant Aid to the Kingdom of Tonga from 1981 to date has been approximately US$1.03 million. The following is a list of projects funded under the programme since 1996:

Technical Cooperation

The areas covered under Technical Cooperation are very diversified and include such sectors as agriculture, fishery, industry, infrastructure and health. Technical Cooperation programs to Tonga are composed of the following:

1. Acceptance of trainees: An average of 30 trainees have been accepted each year;
2. Dispatch of experts: At present 1 expert is working in Tonga in the field of fisheries;
3. Dispatch of volunteers from the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV): At present 29 volunteers are working in Tonga in fields such as basic education, health, etc;
4. Dispatch of volunteers from the Senior Volunteer Program (SV): At present 2 volunteers are working in Tonga in fields of electronics and fisheries; and
5. Development survey and development cooperation projects: Examples of these include studies on fisheries development and management, resources survey and health.