Tokyo: Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said Tuesday that her ministry will upgrade a security cooperation division to beef up the country’s official security assistance scheme.
Noting the rising importance of the OSA scheme, under which Japan provides defense equipment to like-minded countries free of charge, Kamikawa told a press conference that the Asian nation will strategically strengthen the scheme.
The new division will be created by upgrading by the end of fiscal 2024 the existing security cooperation office that was established in July this year under the ministry’s Foreign Policy Bureau, with the number of division members increasing from the current 11.
To expand the scheme, the ministry has set aside 5 billion yen in OSA-related expenses in the Japanese government’s fiscal 2024 draft budget, a 2.5-fold increase from the initial budget for fiscal 2023 through March next year.
In the current fiscal year, the OSA scheme covered the Philippines, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Fiji, providing the four nations with coastal surveillance radars, patrol boats and other equipment.
The ministry has already picked Vietnam and Djibouti as recipients for defense equipment under the scheme for fiscal 2024. It is considering adding more countries.
The OSA scheme is limited to areas not directly linked to international conflict. Due to this, Japan checks to see how the provided defense equipment is used.
JIJI Press