Official Development Assistance Policy Research Articles

How to Escape the Middle-Income Trap: Lessons for the ODA Policy

Despite the effort of official development assistance (ODA) since 1948, most of the countries experience decreasing marginal returns in the economic growth, resulting in middle-income trap. In the perspective that there must be an alternative ODA policy target to neo-classical economic theory, this study examines the configurations of economic and institutional factors that help the escape of middle-income trap. Previous middle-income trap studies investigated the slowdown of economic growth as a consequence of low total factor productivity and showed limited interest on institutional factors. Moreover, such studies based on regression could not draw the synergy of various factors. This study employed fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to identify the combinations of economic and institutional factors that improve or reduce the possibility of the escape. The results suggest that while the overwhelming importance of total factor productivity still remains, configuration of institutional factors such as rule of law, property rights, anti-corruption, democratic institution is necessary to achieve the full escape of middle-income trap. The findings imply the need for not only financial aid but also institutional support for the developing countries to overcome the middle-income trap.

Трансформация политики США, ЕС и КНР в области содействия развитию на фоне междержавного соперничества

The paper deals with official development assistance (ODA) policies of the USA, the EU and China in the comparative context of latest developments. The development approaches of the three actors under investigation demonstrate common features as well as idiosyncrasies in terms of management, resources, and ideological justification. All actors strive towards complex model of influence through ODA including tying together economic projects with sociocultural heft and security. The underlying trends characteristic of the USA, and in significant degree of the EU approaches combine traditional aim of reshaping sociopolitical institutions of target countries with growing securitization concerns. In the case of the U.S., one can speak of ‘militarization’ of ODA which means blurring the lines between military aid (and goalsetting) and traditional development assistance. China is on the way of reforming its international development cooperation industry, seeking to transform it into a more complex toolset of influence, better coordinated, and more closely knit to foreign policy and security objectives. In contrast to the Western paradigm, Beijing avoids imposing its model of development and threat perception upon the aid-recipient countries. The analysis concludes that “soft power” concept is being sidelined in the world of great power rivalry by more complex and hybrid formats of foreign influence which combine sociocultural, political, geoeconomic, and military instruments, with development assistance playing a role of one of the primary foreign policy resources. New dimensions of rivalry associated with industrial and technological race in energy, climate, and supply chains are coming to the fore in ODA policies. The role of sociocultural influence toolkit is growing given information and communication technologies progress, proliferation of non-state actors in international relations, and increasing activity of China in the area, which challenges the dominant positions the Western actors have enjoyed for over 30 years.

The Official Development Assistance Policy of the European Union in the Post-Soviet Space: Geopolitical Factors

The structure, priorities, conceptual framework, methods, and resources of EU policies in the Official Development Assistance (ODA) program are considered. Research shows that the EU funding of ODA programs for the post-Soviet space hiked fourfold between 2010 and 2020. The share of funding for Central Asian states decreased substantially compared to the Western part of the post-Soviet space against the background of confrontation with Russia, as well as due to presidential elections in Belarus. This paper argues that this redistribution is caused by geopolitical factors of EU policy. A conclusion is drawn that the recent declarations by the EU leadership about strengthening the “hard” power and the “geopolitical” agenda are not new and reflect long-term trends in EU foreign policy. Thus, a significant share of ODA funds is traditionally allocated to “social infrastructure,” strengthening Brussels’ control over the sociopolitical sphere in target countries of the periphery, aiming to bring them under EU influence in the economy, governance, goal setting, and ideology. This policy serves the interests of the EU, entrenching asymmetrical “metropole–periphery” relations between the EU and target counties.

Помощь развитию во внешней политике ФРГ

The article discusses the conceptual approaches and policies of Germany in the field of official development assistance (ODA). The FRG is the second largest donor country in terms of the absolute amount of financial resources that the government donates as ODA. However, there is an obvious gap between the official rhetoric and the actual practices of the German ODA policy. Development assistance has been actively used by Berlin to promote its political and economic interests and to address its security policy problems. Germany’s ODA policy is built primarily on a bilateral basis, the belief being that this form of cooperation allows a better control of financial resources and enables the donor country to more effectively articulate its interests. The fate of the most needy countries is of much less concern to the German authorities. The FRG, as well as the European Union, are trying to make their own priorities a platform for building cooperation with partners. The entry of the “Alliance 90/Greens” into a governmental coalition after the 2021 parliamentary elections will further shift the focus of Germany’s ODA policy towards combating climate change. However, the “Greens” are careful to avoid discussing what energy resources should become the basis of industrial development in least developed countries. Berlin is interested in maintaining its place among the world’s largest donors. In the arsenal of Germany’s foreign policy tools, development assistance serves to counter from afar new threats and challenges – terrorism, conflicts and illegal migration. It can be adapted to strengthen the position of the donor in the markets, political and public life of the recipient countries. With Germany having a significant influence on the formation and financing of the EU coordinating mechanisms, the FRG’s ODA policy can, when necessary, rely on the latter. However, the Germany’s ODA policy is not without vulnerabilities. Berlin often looks like a mentor who knows what to do and how to do it, although the reality almost always turns out to be more complicated than the speculative recipes. The main weakness of this policy lies in that its conceptual framework has been built according to European patterns and so is largely out of touch with the real needs of developing countries.

The autonomy of international organizations? The analysis of major powers’ influence over the World Bank’s aid policies

Are international organizations autonomous actors in global politics? This paper investigates whether and how major powers influence the World Bank’s official development assistance policies. Despite the World Bank’s attempts to maintain independence from its member states, we argue that major powers are still influential. Testing this expectation with the data of official development assistance provisions between 1981 and 2017, we find that the World Bank provides a higher amount of official development assistance to the recipient countries that receive a higher amount of such assistance from the major powers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan. In addition, the World Bank is prone to provide a higher amount of official development assistance to the recipients that have a similar preference to the major powers. This study sheds light on the relations between major powers and international organizations.

System Dynamics as Ex Ante Impact Assessment Tool in International Development Cooperation: Study Case of Urban Sustainability Policies in Darkhan, Mongolia

In recent years, there has been a trend of increasing criticism towards official development assistance (ODA) and the optimization of ODA policies, in a world of growing inequality between the Global North and Global South. To contribute to efficient ODA planning, this article proposes to innovatively apply system dynamics as an optimal tool for ex ante impact assessment. The study case is located in the slums of Darkhan (Mongolia), whose citizens and environment suffer the consequences of poor urban planning and lack of municipal solid waste management (MSWM). In this context, the present research proposes a policy of education and infrastructure as key factors for the improvement of MSWM in the context of an international cooperation plan, carried out by the Korean agency KOICA. To evaluate its impact and anticipate its effects, a tailor-made system dynamics model of a Darkhan district has been created, with the focus on the education process in order to simulate the different options of the proposed policies. The results show that education policy is particularly relevant for behavioral change, in terms of reducing waste burned and waste on the ground, and increasing composted and recycled waste. However, in this context, the policy is ineffective for improving the district’s water and air pollution situation. This article also offers discussions and recommendations to be applied to the international cooperation plan, which takes place in real life. It is expected that the described process of model construction and its results will contribute to the further use of system dynamics as a planning tool in the international cooperation field.

“ AFRICAN OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE (ODA) DEMAND AND POLICY DIRECTIONIN THE POST-CORONA ERA.”

This study is based on a social network analysis of newspaper articles relating to the Corona pandemic contained in the African daily newspaper African News. The aim of the study is to analyse what life-changes have been brought about in Africa as a result of the Corona pandemic, so that this information can be used in official development assistance policies for Africa. For this purpose, a text network analysis method was used. As a result of the analysis, the life-changes experienced by African residents as a consequence of the Corona pandemic are summarized into five broad categories. The five topics are: the Government’s countermeasures against the virus; recovery measures in African countries; measures relating to personal health; Government measures relating to schools; and an increase in the number of deaths from Coronavirus. After the Coronavirus pandemic, the ​​aid that should be provided most urgently to Africa is in the fields of health and education. It is hoped that aid donors will refer to the points found in this analysis and reflect them in their aid policy.

Tracking sectoral allocation of official development assistance: a comparative study of the 29 Development Assistance Committee countries, 2011–2018

ABSTRACT Background: Official development assistance (ODA) is one of the most important means for donor countries to foster diplomatic relations with low- and middle-income countries and contribute to the welfare of the international community. Objective: This study estimated the sectoral allocation of gross disbursements of ODA of the 29 Development Assistance Committee (DAC) member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for the duration of 2011 to 2018, by aid type (bilateral, multilateral, and both aids). Methods: Data from the OECD iLibrary were used. The sector definition was based on the OECD sector classification. For core funding to multilateral agencies that do not specialize in each aid sector, we estimated ODA and its flows based on the OECD methodology for calculating imputed multilateral ODA. Results: For all 29 countries, during the period of 2014–2018 where data were available for all the countries, the sector with the highest average annual ODA contribution was health at 20.34 billion USD (13.21%), followed by humanitarian aid at 18.04 billion (11.72%). Humanitarian aid has increased in the sectoral share rankings in both bilateral and multilateral aid, and the sectoral share for refugees in donor countries has increased in bilateral aid. While the 29 countries show relatively similar trends for sectoral shares, some countries and sectors display unique trends. For instance, infrastructure and energy sectors in bilateral aid of Japan are particularly high accounts for 48.48% of the total bilateral ODA of the country in 2018. Conclusions: This paper evaluated ODA trends by major donors of DAC countries in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic periods. We hope that our estimates will contribute to the review of the strategic decision-making and the effective implementation of future ODA policy discussions in the DAC countries while ensuring transparency.

Business models for sustainable development: Projects of global extension of medical technologies of Japan

Japan has been implementing projects of global extension of medical technologies under an official development assistance policy to improve public health and medicine by promoting Japanese medical technologies worldwide. The current work examines the impact and goals of implementing this new scheme. The scheme has involved dozens of projects that sent Japanese experts to partner countries and that invited their counterparts to Japan to showcase Japanese medical technologies. Approximately 50 projects have been implemented in 24 countries over 5 years, and 19,638 individuals have been trained. As a result, the introduced technology was adopted in national guidelines in 4 projects and the introduced equipment was procured in the partner country in 17 projects. In total, 912,334 individuals have benefitted from the introduction of these medical technologies. The concept of "creating shared value" (CSV) could help promote project success by both creating economic value and encouraging social progress. However, the sustainability of that business model remains in question in terms of the internationalization of CSV. Several successful projects improved medical care and led to new business opportunities.

Local Government and Network Governance in the Era of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS): Gyeongsangbukdo Province and Daegu Metropolitan City in South Korea

This article aims to discuss the roles of local governments in the era of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a case study of Gyeongsangbukdo Province and Daegu Metropolitan City in South Korea. The study looks at the main official development assistance (ODA) policies and activities of these two local governments, and how these two local governments have adopted the SDGs framework. In doing so, this study has employed the approach of network governance regarding the establishment of partnerships between a central authority and local governments and between local governments and other aid stakeholders at the local level. The findings of the study suggest that local governments’ ODA policies and activities in South Korea are barely commensurate with recent norm change at the international level. Given this, this study argues that local governments in South Korea need to develop their ODA capacity building in order to be in line with international norms.

The Turning Point in International Development Cooperation of South Korea

Clarifying how South Korean aid had been changed during the procedures to join Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Development Assistance Committee (DAC), and the background why South Korea made a decision to become a DAC member are the main purposes of this study. Prior researches have identified a few reasons that clarifying emerging donor’s DAC entering mainly focused on external factors. This study describes South Korea’s decision to join DAC had been decided through domestic debates, unlike previous studies. The policy documents and qualitative interviews used to analyze the changes of aid and background in South Korea, especially during the 2000s. In 2005, the South Korean government announced a plan for aid policy reforms by 2010. The establishment of the Committee for International Development Cooperation for comprehensive aid policy‐making expansion of aid volume, and the increase in grant ratio were the major changes in this process. The members involved in Official Development Assistance policy reforms were not only officials but professionals who pursued a career in civil society as well. The Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in 2004 worked as one of the catastrophic events that pushed Korea to shift to real policy reform, but more than that, there was a social consensus on South Korea’s obligation to become an international donor. Keywords: ODA, Korea, DAC, Emerging donor DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/98-30 Publication date: June 30th 2020

POLICY AND PRACTICE IN ODA DISBURSEMENTS: AN ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN SOUTH KOREA'S OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE

AbstractSouth Korea is the only nation to become an important donor nation after being a recipient of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for several decades. In 2010, it became a member of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee, and while it has continued to use its experience as a former ODA recipient to inform its distribution practices, it also has evolved its ODA policies in response to changes in international norms and the imperatives associated with being a DAC-member nation. We know that, while policies may change, actual ODA disbursements—which nations are selected as recipients and receive ODA in what amounts—may lag or even remain unchanged. In this paper, we use the case of South Korea to determine how actual ODA disbursements change in response to policy changes. To accomplish this, we use a selection model to conduct a statistical analysis of South Korea's ODA disbursements using dyadic data from 1987 to 2016. Our results indicate that, while there has been continuity in terms of which nations receive South Korean ODA, there were also notable changes in its disbursements. Specifically, the ODA policy changes the South Korean government enacted did result in an altered profile of nations that were targeted by South Korea as ODA recipients.

Changes in official development assistance in Vietnam as seen through the prism of governance

Traditionally confined to the pursuit of economic, social and environmental development objectives, official development assistance has moved into less traditional and more sensitive sectors. By making governance a major focus of official development assistance policies, Western powers have reinforced the strategic and diplomatic dimension of aid. In doing so, they have come up against the challenge of exporting Western-inspired governance models to countries whose historical, political, and cultural norms preclude their acceptance, forcing donors to adapt to local contexts. This is particularly the case in Vietnam which, while being one of the most important historical recipients of international aid, and thus to some extent financially dependent on its donors, is distinguished by its ideological and political independence, especially in the way it runs its domestic affairs. Now facing the challenges of good governance, the country is turning a new page in its relations with its creditors, marked by the difficulty the latter experience in supporting public policies of governance, given the sensitive nature of the subject. Traditionally focused on Millennium Development Goals or Sustainable Development Goals, aid in general, and French aid in particular, have moved into more sensitive areas such as governance. Choosing governance as their new target in developing countries, donors have strengthened the strategic dimension of aid. However, they have encountered several obstacles in exporting western governance patterns to developing countries whose history, social and political background are fundamentally different. This phenomenon is leading donors to draw up a more tailored governance aid policy in developing countries. This is notably the case in Vietnam. While it is one of the most important aid recipients in the world, Vietnam has nonetheless preserved its ideological independence vis-a-vis its creditors. Vietnam is now being urged to tackle governance issues in the country to unlock its growth potential, and has embarked on a new era in its relationships with international aid, characterized by the difficulty of implementing public policies inspired and funded by aid, given the sensitive nature of the topic.

The Korea’s Future ODA Policy Direction through Efficiency Analysis : Focusing on the Beneficiary Countries of ODA Projects Provided by Korea

The purpose of this study is to improve effectiveness of Korea’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided to developing countries. To do this, we analyze the efficiency of ODA provided to 38 recipient countries by Korea through data envelope analysis method. The effects of four factors including population, GDP, economic decline and poverty, and external intervention on efficiency are also investigated by utilizing tobit regression analysis. As a result of the DEA efficiency analysis, it is found that the average efficiency score of the total is about 59%. By region, the average efficiency score of Asia, Africa, Central and South America, and the East and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) are about 42%, 68%, 70%, and 74%, respectively. It indicates that the Asian countries are inefficient compared to countries of the other regions. It is also found that factors of population, GDP, economic decline and poverty, and external intervention have statistically significant effects on efficiency at 0.01 significance level. In the case of the population, the higher the population of the recipient country, the more negative (-) effect is on the efficiency. The other factors such as GDP, economic decline and poverty, and external intervention have positive effects on the efficiency.

Efficiency Analysis of Official Development Assistance Provided by Korea

Results of the CDI and QODA evaluation developed by OECD showed that Korea’s aid presented low efficiency compared to other aid countries. However, these methods represent a qualitative assessment of the effectiveness of each country’s aid and are not applicable to the evaluation of actual aid projects and the identification of causes of the inefficiency. Therefore, it is needed to grasp the reality of Korea’s aid and to identify the cause of aid inefficiency to set up a better ODA policy. The purpose of this study is to improve the effectiveness of Korea’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided to developing countries. To do this, we analyzed the efficiency of ODA provided to 33 recipient countries by Korea through data envelopment analysis method. The effects of three factors, illiteracy, integrity, and GDP, on efficiency were also investigated by utilizing a Tobit regression analysis. As a result of the DEA efficiency analysis, it was found that the average efficiency was about 65.74%. By region, the average efficiency scores of Asia, Africa, Central and South America, and Middle East and Eastern Europe were about 47.8%, 78.9%, 70.4%, and 62.7%, respectively. This indicates that Asian countries are inefficient compared to countries from other regions. It was also found that GDP, integrity, and illiteracy have positive effects on efficiency. The methodology proposed in this study can be used for other studies to create an aid policy that produces efficient results.

Donor policy domains in official development assistance: ideas, actors and rules in and beyond Asia

This article appreciates that official development assistance (ODA) policy is a complex area of a donor country’s policy-making, within a broader foreign policy domain. The literature on ODA policy-making does not have a common analytical approach, with discussions of specific amounts of aid existing alongside those of it as an aggregated phenomena. Policy scholars are especially interested in exploring policy content, delineating goals, objectives and settings, and identifying actors, ideas and rules that are prevalent in any particular policy area. Applying thinking from policy studies to an analysis of ODA policy highlights significant characteristics, ideas, actors and rules that comprise the ODA policy domain. This approach is useful concerning both long-term traditional Western donors and newer or rising donors, including Asian donors. It facititates a description of the ODA policy domain, which scholars and advocates can use to develop a comprehensive understanding of any individual donor’s ODA policy. It can improve knowledge and action about ODA policy, and potentially lead to greater sustainable development outcomes in countries that receive ODA.

A Study on the Impact of South Korea’s Official Developmental Assistance Policy toward Vietnam

The purpose of this research paper is to study and analyze the Official Development Assistance (ODA) policy of South Korea toward Vietnam. The research methodology used was qualitative and relied on processed information from secondary sources. It is noted that South Korea has been a major foreign aid partner of Vietnam since it became a donor member of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC). Currently, South Korea preferentially gives Vietnam the largest share of its donor funds in the form of concessional loans and grants. Also found in this investigation is that the main determinant of this sizable ODA is in the form of commercial opportunities available in the recipient country and the rich diplomatic relations shared by the two countries. South Korea has realized commercial benefits such as an expanded market for exports, employment opportunities for its citizens, and foreign direct investment (FDI) chances in Vietnam as a result of this ODA volume. On the other hand, Vietnam has used money received to immensely transform its economy. In conclusion, the ODA policy of South Korea toward Vietnam has been found to be largely beneficial for both countries.

A Comparative Analysis of the Official Development Assistance(ODA) in OECD DAC Major Donor Countries focusing on Primary Education Sector

본 연구의 목적은 초등교육 ODA 분야에서 두각을 나타내고 있는 선진공여국의 현황 및 특징의 분석을 통해 한국의 초등교육 ODA가 나아갈 바람직한 방향을 제시할 수 있는 쟁점을 도출하는 것이다. 이를 위하여 문헌연구의 방법을 통해 OECD DAC 공여국 중 초등교육 ODA의 규모가 큰 상위 5개국을 대상으로 이들의 초등교육 ODA 규모, 수원국의 분포, 전달 체제 및 사업 유형, 그리고 구체적인 ODA 사례를 비교분석하였다. 연구 결과, OECD DAC 주요 공여국의 초등교육 ODA 규모는 대체적으로 증가세를 나타내고 있었으며, 교육 ODA에서 기초교육이 차지하는 비중이 클수록 초등교육 ODA의 규모가 크다는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 또한, 이들은 초등교육 ODA가 시급한 최빈개도국과 사하라 이남 아프리카 지역을 가장 많이 지원하고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 전달 주체 면에서는 NGO 및 시민사회의 참여가 두드러졌으며, 다자기구를 통한 초등교육 ODA 역시 활발하게 이루어지고 있는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 또한, 사업 유형 면에서 이들은 프로그램 원조와 다자 협력을 통한 초등교육 ODA를 지향하고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 이상의 결과를 바탕으로 본 연구에서는 한국의 초등교육 ODA의 개선을 위한 시사점을 도출하였다. 먼저, 기초교육 ODA 전반에 관한 심도 있는 논의가 이루어져야 한다. 이를 통해 기초교육 ODA에 대한 사회 전반적인 합의가 이루어질 때 초등교육 ODA의 규모를 안정적으로 확보할 수 있을 것이다. 둘째, 초등교육의 지역 간, 국가 간 및 성별 간 격차를 극복하기 위한 포괄적인 초등교육 ODA 전략을 세워야 한다. 셋째, 교육원조의 후발주자로서 선진공여국과의 협력은 물론, 다자기구를 비롯해 NGO 및 시민사회단체를 통한 초등교육 ODA 사업을 확대할 필요가 있다. 넷째, 단기적이고 가시적인 성과중심의 사업을 지양하고 교육의 특수성에 입각한초등교육 ODA를 추진해야 한다. 이를 위해서는 기초교육 ODA의 정책 철학 및 목표 등 국가차원의 핵심가치 수립이 선행되어야 할 것이다.The purpose of this research is to foster advancement of ODA policy in the primary education sector. The study seeks to determine the current status and characteristics of the OECD DAC major donors by analyzing their recent primary education cases from 2010 to 2014 through a detailed literature review that particularly focuses on the scale of ODA, characteristics of recipient countries, main channels of aid, and types of aid. The results of the analysis are as follows: Initially, OECD DAC major donors’ scale of ODA in primary education was generally showing an increasing trend. Additionally, it showed that the larger the scale of ODA in basic education, the greater the yield in educational outcome in primary education. Secondly, the major donors gave the most amount of ODA support in primary education to the least developed countries and to Sub-Saharan Africa, where primary education is urgent. Thirdly, in the aspect of channel of aid, it was clear that NGOs and Civil Society both actively participated in primary education ODA. In the type of aid, meanwhile, there was a tendency to aim a programme-based approach and closer cooperation with multilateral institutions in OECD DAC major donors. This research establishes agendas for Korea’s primary education ODA based on the analysis above. First, Korea needs a discussion over basic education ODA in general. Second, it needs to establish an inclusive strategy to reduce disparity between regions, between countries and between genders. Also, Korea needs to cooperate with leading donor countries and multilateral institutions. In addition, Korea should advance primary education ODA on particularity in education instead of short-term and performance-oriented business. Most of all, the establishment of core values and policy objectives concerning basic education ODA at national level must take precedence in order to improve Korea’s primary education ODA.

The Occult of Personality: Korea's Candlelight Protests and the Impeachment of Park Geun-hye

The phrase “cult of personality” is used more often to describe North Korea's Kim dynasty than the legacy of South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee, father of the recently impeached President Park Geun-hye. And yet Park's legacy has long been mythologized by conservative forces in both Korea and abroad as that of a virtuous and wise political leader. The praise of Park's virtues (especially his “economization of politics,” as one prominent conservative economist puts it) has many uses. During the Cold War, it was used to secure legitimacy for a president who had come to power through a military coup and whose vision of “administrative democracy” invested enormous power into the institution of the presidency itself. More recently, it has been deployed to help rewrite Korea's highly contentious development experience in a manner that praises both the state and oligarchic interests for past achievements. The myth of Park has been circulated through Korea's Official Development Assistance policies to help satisfy the demand for knowledge of Korea's development experience and to secure international prestige for the Korean development “model.” Meanwhile, intellectuals associated with Korea's New Right movement have praised Park's much-vaunted legacy of economic planning and the establishment of a Korean middle class as prefiguring democracy, a narrative that is used to denigrate a history of democratic mobilization deemed dear to the liberal and progressive opposition and their supporters.

ПОМОЩЬ РАЗВИТИЮ ВО ВНЕШНЕЙ СТРАТЕГИИ КИТАЯ, РЕСПУБЛИКИ КОРЕЯ И ЯПОНИИ

The article focuses on new trends in development assistance strategies of three Northeast Asian countries: China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. It provides the analysis of key features of China’s contemporary foreign aid strategy which is currently based mainly on economic priorities rather than on ideology. Building on post-reform successes in economic development, Beijing is expanding its assistance to African and Asian countries, thus demonstrating the efficiency of China’s development model. Moreover, China implements foreign aid programs taking into account the individual recipient countries’ priorities and specific features of their economic and social development. The authors gave attention to Beijing’s willingness to use soft power tools for promoting aid programs. However, the active government involvement in formulation and implementation of foreign aid programs, as well as the predominance of commercial interests of Chinese businesses, are among the main characteristics which are negatively perceived by developing states. The article also explores Japan’s contemporary official development assistance (ODA) policies, which have been changing following the transformation of Japanese security and foreign strategy. Although Tokyo’s aid programs in industrial and social spheres are welcomed by developing countries, Japan’s pursuit towards the "normalization" of security and foreign policy is still viewed in some of recipient countries with caution. Although the scale of the Republic of Korea’s ODA is smaller compared to Japan’s and China’s foreign aid programs, its implementation has been relatively successful due to interaction between government, businesses and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Whereas in the case of China, rigid control of public activities by the government still hinders comprehensive and multifaceted development of Beijing’s assistance policies. Although the peculiarities of China’s legislature and political system make its foreign aid policies and practices different from Japan’s and Korea’s ODA policies, there are a number of common features. These include attention to developing countries’ priorities and peculiarities of their economic and political development, the acknowledgment of social responsibility of business, and the growing use of soft power tools. Given these circumstances, the collaboration on ODA projects is possible between China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. However, in some regions where the interests of these countries meet and contradict, for example, in Southeast Asia, there is a growing rivalry between Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul for presence and influence.