ABSTRACT
The main part of Japanese official development assistance (ODA) goes to Asian countries, which might seem natural as they are Japan’s neighbors and the part of the world the general public feel closest to. Many of the Swedish ODA schemes seem similar to the Japanese ones, at least on paper. Decisions on Swedish aid policy, as well as on the aid budget, are taken by parliament. The objective of twinning is not to copy Swedish solutions but to help sister organizations in the partner countries to develop on their own terms, on the basis of their own cultural, political, economic, and social situation. Swedish aid in general is much more ideological and more politicized than the Japanese. Today, Japan’s ODA programs seem rather mainstream and cover much of what the programs in other donor countries do. Politicians promised a huge increase in ODA at the same time as they decided to freeze or even decrease the General Account Budget.
