Bilateral Policy Dialogue: Japanese Cooperation for Enhancing Industrial Policy Capacity

Japan conducts bilateral industrial policy dialogues with the governments of developing countries on an ad hoc and request basis. Their concrete and practical features, derived from Japan’s past development experience, include country customization, real-sector orientation, selective sector promotion, long-term goals with backward targeting, flexible responses to shifting time and domestic needs, and the creation of a wise, not small, state. Developing countries often seek Japanese advice when a new policy direction is needed against the background of domestic policy competition or pressure from international organizations. In this chapter four cases of Japan’s policy dialogue are presented; from Argentina (the Okita Report, 1985–1987 and 1994–1996), Vietnam (the Ishikawa Project, 1995–2001), Ethiopia (GRIPS-JICA, 2008 to present), and Thailand (the Mizutani Plan, 1999). They collectively exemplify the common Japanese approach as well as the flexible adjustment of dialogue content and modality for each country. The concept of translative adaptation is stressed in which the learning government consciously modifies the foreign model to fit the local reality. The ingredients of a successful bilateral policy dialogue include the strong commitment of the top national leader, country ownership, mutual respect and trust, and the existence of concrete actions and cooperation projects to realize proposed ideas.