DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA – Japan has pledged to actively contribute to the Aid for Trade (AfT) agenda.
Japan has pledged to help developing countries build up constitutional capacity to formulate policies and improve regulatory frameworks and foster human resources by steadily implementing Japan’s Development Initiative for Trade that was launched in December 2005.
Mr. Keitaro Sato, Japan’s ambassador in charge of peace building in Africa said: “We will continue to provide AfT in accordance with Japan’s official development assistance charter and help recipient countries to increase their trade and investments in order to support sustainable development.”
Sato was speaking at the World Trade Organisation (WTO)/African Development Bank (AfDB) meeting in Dar es Salaam last week.
He promised Japan will host the 4th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICADIV) between May 28-30, 2008 in Yokohama.
Sato said his country will boost economic growth in Africa as one of the priorities of the TICADIV; adding that Africa’s infrastructure would be their concern, as they would cooperate with other donors to see into it that their goals are achieved.
“The Government of Japan, in cooperation with JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), JBIC (Japan Bank for Intentional Cooperation) has been identifying regional road network projects that need urgent attention,” Sato said.
He said his country would set up a “one stop boarder post” programme in Africa to standardize African custom procedures and train African customs officers to acquire capacities to maintain the infrastructures.
Under its scheme, ‘boost economic growth in Africa’, Japan will focus on supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through enhanced private sector assistance for Africa approach, the envoy added.
Japan will also provide JBIC’s international financial assistances and implement two-steps loans to semi-regional development banks in Africa.
Commenting during the occasion, WTO director general, Mr. Pascal Lamy told the participants that more AfT should not be part of the Doha Round of multilateral negations, which is about rebalancing WTO rules in a more development friendly way.
“AfT is not a substitute for better trade rules, but an important complement to a fairer trading system to help develop the continent and ensure its opportunities are more widely shared,” he said.
