Japan woos ASEAN with $20 billion aid pledge

[Zero_wing]

I doubt it they been using that card for decades

 

[lcloo]

Current Japanes bank interest rate is zero percent, yes 0%, anyone can check it up. And Abe is offer a "LOW" interest rates loans to ASEAN, very sneaky move, because a LOW interest loan to ASEAN is far far better for the benifits of Japanese banks then the ZERO interest rates in domestic Japan banking. People will be fooled by Abe if they think Abe is helping them, he is only helping Japan itself.

And I think most of the free aids go to Philippines which is the only country that follow Abe's desire. Other ASEAN countries just take some "goodies"(??) in LOW interest loans but ignore Abe's wishes.

 

[Zero_wing]

Well it proves ASEAN is no EU i can't blame them for not doing anything its every country for its self on this issue i think ASEAN should just break up we are not Europe we need more time for that kind of relationship to build

 

[Reashot Xigwin]

Japan to lend ¥150b for Indonesia’s infrastructure projects
Linda Yulisman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Tue, December 17 2013, 9:44 AM

Japan will provide Indonesia with a total of ¥150 billion (US$1.46 billion) in loans for the country to boost development of vital infrastructure in the coming years.

Industry Minister MS Hidayat said Monday that the loan, made available through Japan’s Overseas Development Agency (ODA), would help finance dozens of projects under the Metropolitan Priority Area (MPA) program, including their feasibility studies. The cooperation under the MPA program was signed by both governments in 2010.

The flagship projects in the program include the development of a port in Cilamaya, Karawang, West Java, and mass rapid transportation (MRT) system in Jakarta.

“With all its drawbacks, Indonesia will still attract investment from Japanese firms. That encourages the Japanese government to assist with the development of infrastructure here,” Hidayat said.

Citing Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta as an example, Hidayat said that the backlog and inefficiency at the country’s main port hampered export and import activities.

The industry minister, along with some other Cabinet members including Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa and Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan, headed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, paid a visit to Japan last week where both sides expressed their intentions to forge closer economic links.

Hidayat said that during a roundtable meeting with a number of top Japanese firms, including Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Marubeni IHI and Inpex, some business executives conveyed their interest in expanding their businesses in Indonesia, injecting between $3.5 billion and $4 billion in multi-year investments.

Toshiba, for example, aims to make Indonesia its regional production base for electronics products, while Marubeni wants to set up a power plant with local firms, including Indika Energy.

This fits the estimate of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation pointing out that Indonesia would become Japan’s main investment destination next year, according to Hidayat.

“We ask Japanese investors to disperse their investments outside Java to develop our industries on other islands ,” Hidayat said.

Investments from Japanese firms totaled $2.46 billion in 405 projects last year, while in January-September this year they reached $3.64 billion in 646 projects.

The Industry Ministry’s director general for international industry cooperation, Agus Tjahajana, said that during the visit, Indonesia also requested a review of its economic partnership agreements amid rising concern the deal did not benefit both parties equally.

A recent study by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) suggested that Indonesia had not taken full advantage of increased market access due to a lack of product diversification.

Exports of manufactured products expanded by 78.08 percent to $12.58 billion in 2011 from 2009, but imports jumped by 97.07 percent to $19.23 billion in the same period, the study reveals.

“We’ve followed up by sending a formal letter to Japan for the review,” he said.

Overall trade between Indonesia and Japan stood at $52.9 billion last year, with exports from Indonesia amounting to $30.14 billion and imports $22.77 billion. From January to August this year, it settled at $31.24 billion with Indonesia exporting $18.19 billion and importing $13.05 billion.

Japan to lend ¥150b for Indonesia’s infrastructure projects | The Jakarta Post

 

[takeoff]

The Japanese $20bn aid is pretty tricky, it benefits Japan in many ways.
1. Attract ASEAN to agree with Abe's stand and make an announcement against China.
2. Enable ASEAN to buy more Japanese products mass produced under Abenomic theory recently, which will positively stimulate Japan's economy.
3. In the long run, ASEAN will have to payback much higher value to Japan over $20bn aid. The aid will be in form of low interests loan, when the time's up, ASEAN will have to payback the loan with interests. Japan has devalued Japanese YEN (vs. US$), they expect when ASEAN to payback the loan, the value of Japanese YEN to increase significantly. It will be much helpful to ease Japan's economy.
Anyway, I believe it's a good deal to Japan other than ASEAN.

 

[BoQ77]

VIETNAM: Challenge of growing 'made by Japanese' rice
November 22, 2013
The Asahi Shimbun GLOBE

In the city of Binh Giang in the northern Vietnamese province of Hai Duong, an hour and a half by car from the nation's capital Hanoi, green rice paddies stretch out to the horizon.

It is one of Vietnam's top grain-producing regions, on a par with the Mekong Delta in the south. In mid-September, Japanese farmer Koichi Terui visited this land of swaying ears of rice ripe for harvesting.

Terui, 69, grows rice, wheat and other crops in Iwate Prefecture's Kitakami City.

Since February, he has been attempting to cultivate the Japanese rice varieties Akitakomachi and Hitomebore on a trial basis in four locations on the outskirts of Hanoi. The purpose of his September sojourn was to check up on how things had turned out.

In Vietnam, which has vast stretches of arable land perfectly suited to rice cultivation, double cropping is commonplace. Triple cropping is also possible. Most importantly, labor costs are low.

Terui recruits contract farmers to grow Japanese rice, then provides them with guidance with regards to irrigation and the use of fertilizer, based on the cultivation know-how he has developed in Japan. His intention is to purchase the inexpensive Japanese rice and put it on the market not only within Vietnam, but also in Singapore, Malaysia and the United States where Japanese cuisine is highly popular.

In Vietnam the staple is long grain rice, which takes on a dry, mealy texture when cooked.

Is it possible to successfully grow short-grain, sticky Japanese rice in a hot and humid climate like Vietnam's?

Terui carefully examined the quality of the rice in one field.

"Some of the unhulled rice doesn't contain any grains, but if we can improve cultivation techniques, we should be able to increase the yield," he says. "It's perfectly viable as a business venture."

In Japan, he owns around 800 hectares of farmland, and works not for himself but as the head of an agricultural production corporation that manages farms through a corporate structure. It will establish a Vietnamese affiliate during 2014. Technical guidance, crop collection and sales will be its main activities.

Terui was driven to set the plan in motion by Japan's participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.

"Of course, I'm against the TPP," he says. "Even so, if import duties for rice are abolished and cheap products enter Japan from overseas, we won't be able to avoid taking a hit. If that's the case, then we should stop limiting ourselves to Japan and try our chances abroad as well."

At the core of this belief is Terui's confidence in Japanese rice. Overseas demand is increasing in tandem with the growing popularity of Japanese culinary culture, such as sushi and gyudon (rice bowls topped with beef). The stumbling block is its price, which is double or even triple that of foreign-produced rice. That could be overcome if production is shifted to countries where labor costs are lower.

Nguyen Phu Binh, 65, served as Vietnam's ambassador to Japan for four years until 2011 and supports Terui's efforts.

"Rice 'made by Japanese' and produced with their technical guidance has every chance of becoming a global brand, not only because of its taste but also its health benefits," he says.

Vietnam has virtually doubled its rice export volume over the past 10 years, placing it second in the world after India in 2012 with an output of approximately 7.7 million tons. This has been a godsend for the Vietnamese government, which is hoping to expand exports even further with a boost from the TPP.

Kitoku Shinryo, a major Japanese rice wholesaler based in Tokyo, has also been growing Japanese rice in Vietnam. Working through a joint venture company, it has been providing technical guidance to commissioned farmers in the Mekong Delta since 1999. It purchases approximately 5,000 tons annually from its 1,000 contract farms, and exports the grain to neighboring Asian countries. Earnings have risen from 400 million yen ($4 million) to well over 500 million yen.

"We've built it up from zero through trial and error, in order to cater to the demand for Japanese rice overseas," says Akira Omori, vice president of the joint venture company.

The booming popularity of Japanese food in recent years has given impetus to his firm's endeavors.

"We've arrived at an age when there is a need for Japanese rice that is affordable for ordinary people in developing countries," Omori, 54, says.

The company will set up a Japanese-style rice drying facility in the spring with the aim of further production growth.

Vietnam is not the only country where Japanese rice cultivation has been introduced.

In Taiwan, a Niigata rice grower has been providing its expertise, and Japanese rice produced by local farmers is being sold domestically in department store food sections. Another Japanese interest has begun cultivating the Koshihikari variety in Thailand.

Rice "made by Japanese" is making greater inroads in other countries than grain "made in Japan."

"There are still issues such as rising labor costs in the future and market development," says Terui, who has been encouraged by the quality of Japanese rice grown in Binh Giang. "In contrast to Japan where consumption is declining, there are great prospects for growing rice overseas. I want to keep pursuing them."

(This portion of the article was written by Seiji Kanda, senior staff writer of The Asahi Shimbun.)

JAPANESE KNOW-HOW ON THE WORLD STAGE

In India, the world's second-largest producer and consumer of rice, rice cookers made by Japanese appliance manufacturer Panasonic Corp. are hot items. Its local affiliate doubled the number of units sold over the last five years to 700,000 in 2012.

When the company ventured into the Indian market in the 1990s, most households cooked rice in fire-heated pots. Rice cookers that eliminated the need to keep an eye on the cooking temperature with a press of a button were revolutionary.

Chinese and Indian manufacturers entered the fray by introducing lower-priced alternatives, but Panasonic countered this by perfecting its products' capability for cooking non-sticky Indica rice and developing multifunctional computer-controlled models. It has held on to the top spot in the market with a 30-percent share.

Satake, a company based in Higashi-Hiroshima City in Hiroshima Prefecture, boasts a 70-percent share of the global market for rice milling machines that make white rice from unhulled rice. The key to its success has been to cater to Indica rice, the world's most popular variety.

Sticky Japonica rice is milled by rubbing grains together. On the other hand, Indica rice grains are long, thin, and tend to break. So they are milled by grinding them against a grindstone that lightly polishes their surface. This technique was developed for the milling of rice for making sake. Satake currently exports its rice mills to around 150 countries, and is also expanding into Africa and South America.

"We have proprietary technology, such as the metal compound used to make the grindstones, their rotating speed, and the pressure they apply," says the company's chief spokesman Takeshi Munesada.

(This part was written by Yusaku Miyazaki, GLOBE staff writer.)

 

[beijingwalker]

If Japan's economy continues to decline this way,it will soon be the one who needs financial help itself

 

[Viet]

The Japanese $20bn aid is pretty tricky, it benefits Japan in many ways.
1. Attract ASEAN to agree with Abe's stand and make an announcement against China.
2. Enable ASEAN to buy more Japanese products mass produced under Abenomic theory recently, which will positively stimulate Japan's economy.
3. In the long run, ASEAN will have to payback much higher value to Japan over $20bn aid. The aid will be in form of low interests loan, when the time's up, ASEAN will have to payback the loan with interests. Japan has devalued Japanese YEN (vs. US$), they expect when ASEAN to payback the loan, the value of Japanese YEN to increase significantly. It will be much helpful to ease Japan's economy.
Anyway, I believe it's a good deal to Japan other than ASEAN.

does anyone believe that Japan is a charity foundation?

Sure, Japan helps itself by helping ASEAN. However, it is foolish to think by taking Japanese money ASEAN will follow of what Japan says. So ASEAN rejected the idea of critizing China at the summit. ASEAN needs money, it takes it and says Thanks. Who cares of what outsiders say?

An interesting fact: since taking office, Shinzo Abe has gone overseas almost every month. He visited 25 countries and attended summits both at home and abroad with more than 110 leaders. but not China.

 

[lcloo]

Abe is so desperate to contain China that he visited foreign countries to join hand with him to go against China but only succeeded in one or may be two countries. One is Philippines another may be US, but actual response from US is vague rather than affirmative.

Putin was straight in saying no, South Korea president refused to speak to him, South East Asian countries just take the money and said thank you very much but sorry we don't go against China. African countries said the same. EU politely rejected his requests......

I think he still haven't go to Latin America, hmm....

 

[NiceGuy]

Putin was straight in saying no, South Korea president refused to speak to him, South East Asian countries just take the money and said thank you very much but sorry we don't go against China. African countries said the same. EU politely rejected his requests......

If Japan transfer all hig-tech they got to VN, then we will say YES

 

[Reashot Xigwin]

does anyone believe that Japan is a charity foundation?

Sure, Japan helps itself by helping ASEAN. However, it is foolish to think by taking Japanese money ASEAN will follow of what Japan says. So ASEAN rejected the idea of critizing China at the summit. ASEAN needs money, it takes it and says Thanks. Who cares of what outsiders say?

An interesting fact: since taking office, Shinzo Abe has gone overseas almost every month. He visited 25 countries and attended summits both at home and abroad with more than 110 leaders. but not China.

Abe is a piece of Shit & he is probably the worst leader for Japan right now. That explain why he never stay long in Japan. His Abenomic has wreck the economy.

 

[takeoff]

does anyone believe that Japan is a charity foundation?

Sure, Japan helps itself by helping ASEAN. However, it is foolish to think by taking Japanese money ASEAN will follow of what Japan says. So ASEAN rejected the idea of critizing China at the summit. ASEAN needs money, it takes it and says Thanks. Who cares of what outsiders say?

An interesting fact: since taking office, Shinzo Abe has gone overseas almost every month. He visited 25 countries and attended summits both at home and abroad with more than 110 leaders. but not China.

"Japan helps itself by helping ASEAN", really? by what meanings? by 20$bn aid? In year 2013 Japan drastically/artificially devalued JPN Yen by 16%, the current exchange rate is about 100 (USD VS. YEN), how if the exchange rate back-down to 85 when ASEAN have to payback the loan? It's not aid, it's a trap, it's potentially Japanese version of money snatch. I'm not saying ASEAN should not take aid, I'm saying there is a big risk, it's not a free meal.

I really don't think China cares about Abe's visits to other countries, doesn't matter as long as China keeps high speed growth while both Japan and ASEAN need China's market to save their economy. On the contrary, the intense situation between Japan and China will benefit China to squeeze out Japanese products (not only final products but also supplies) from Chinese market. In the next two decades, China and Japan will actually be competitors in terms of technology development. Occupation of Chinese market (because it's big enough as cash cow to finance R&D) will be fatal for both sides. Abe's political policy towards China doesn't help Japan.

 

[takeoff]

If Japan transfer all hig-tech they got to VN, then we will say YES

Please be aware of the difference between financial aid and technology transfer. Japan has never transferred any high-tech to any of other countries, period. Think of it, what do Japanese live on when they transfer their "high-techs" to other countries? They are happy to export final high-tech products to other countries, even setting up assembly lines at destination countries is acceptable, but hoping Japan to transfer high-techs to potential competitors....is a wet dream.

 

[NiceGuy]

Please be aware of the difference between financial aid and technology transfer. Japan has never transferred any high-tech to any of other countries, period. Think of it, what are Japanese live on when they transfer their "high-techs" to other countries? They are okay to export final high-tech products to other countries, even setting up assembly line at destination countries is acceptable, but hoping Japan to transfer high-techs to potential competitors....is a wet dream.

Japan is smart enough to understand that its too hard to fight alone against China, Japan also cant count on USA in the long term coz US is too far and declining. Only VN is her best choice to collaborate with.

If Japan needs VN to fight against China wt her, then, she should help VN to get rich and transfer all high-tech to us. We cant help Japan when we only have out dated warships-jet fighters

 

[takeoff]

Japan is smart enough to understand that its too hard to fight alone against China, Japan also cant count on USA in the long term coz US is too far and declining. Only VN is her best choice to collaborate with.

If Japan needs VN to fight against China wt her, then, she should help VN to get rich and transfer all high-tech to us. We cant help Japan when we only have out dated warships-jet fighters

I agree that Japan is hoping to collaborate with VN and Philippine to fight against China, by which eases China's pressure on Japan solely; but it doesn't mean Japan has the intension to transfer high-tech to VN to make it powerful. Japan has a population of 127 million and VN has a population of 88 million. In view of the size of VN and its population, VN is already a potential competitor to Japan in the long run; to have a hostile China is already painful enough, it's not Japan's interest to have another economic competitor in global market.
Meanwhile I believe Japan counts on USA to interfere the conflict much more than any of other countries. The exist of its political influence and military force will still be the deciding factor in East Asia and Southeast Asia in the next decade.