:: Japan's Economic Cooperation between apan and the Republic of the Vanuatu

The two vital components of Japan’s ODA programs to the Republic of Vanuatu are Grant Aid and Technical Cooperation.

Grant Aid

The Grant Aid program has been a major component of Japan’s ODA to Vanuatu. Japan provides general grant aid to Vanuatu only for projects targeting Basic Human Needs including infrastructure and medical equipment. 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$49.1 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 25 projects to the value of approximately US$800,344 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.

1 project to the value of US$45,018. (approx. 5,800,611 Vt) was 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 Republic of Vanuatu from 1981 to date has been approximately US$ 0.16 million.

The following project was funded under the programme in 1997:

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 Vanuatu are composed of the following:

1. Acceptance of trainees: An average of 20 trainees have been accepted each year;
2. Dispatch of experts: At present 2 experts are working in Vanuatu in the field of electricity;
3. Dispatch of volunteers from the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV): At present 22 volunteers are working in Vanuatu in fields such as basic education, health, etc;
4. Dispatch of volunteers from the Senior Volunteer Program (SV): At present 3 volunteers are working in Vanuatu in the fields of information technology, health, etc; and
5. Development survey and development cooperation projects: Examples of these include studies on fisheries development and management, resources survey and health.