Policy Objectives of Government Development Assistance

The policy objectives of official development assistance are very complex, often combining several purposes, but in most cases there will be one main policy objective. To sum up, the policy objectives of official development assistance mainly fall into the following three categories: Economic objectives are the most basic policy objectives of official development assistance, and any official development assistance includes this objective. Helping backward countries and regions achieve economic and social development and improving the living standards of local people is a goal of official development assistance recognized by the international community. It is also a must-have and even the primary policy goal of official development assistance.

Other economic goals also include: (1) Reconstruction assistance, such as the United States’ “Marshall Plan” to help European countries that suffered heavy losses in World War II to revive their economies, and the international community’s assistance to the reconstruction of Afghanistan; (2) ) Stabilize the world and regional economy and help recipient countries survive the economic crisis, such as the International Monetary Fund helping Mexico, Argentina and Southeast Asian countries get out of the financial crisis; (3) Strengthen economic penetration and influence, such as the official development assistance of some major countries such as the United States and Japan. External loans have additional conditions, such as stipulating that loans in local currency must be repaid in local currency, and the loans used must be used to purchase domestic goods, etc. Taking the opportunity of aid, they try to expand the influence of their own currency in the world and other countries, expand sales for the products of their own companies, and even include attempts to occupy the other country's market and seize economic benefits. Political goals are the most widely used policy goals in official development assistance, and are roughly divided into five situations:

(1) Support countries and regions with the same economic and political system as the country, such as the "Marshall Plan"; (2) Establish and consolidate the country’s comprehensive influence in a certain country or region, such as the United States assisting Latin American countries, the Soviet Union assisting Vietnam, Japan assisting ASEAN, etc.; (3) Improving the country’s international political status, such as Japan trying to use ODA as an economic Leverage to exert influence on the United Nations in an attempt to become a permanent member of the Security Council; (4) To achieve a certain direct political purpose and benefit, such as the United States providing $900 million in aid in exchange for the extradition of Milosevic; (5) To use aid to save and support a certain country Regime may change the nature of a regime or country. For example, the United States provided a large amount of military and economic assistance to the Ngo Dinh Diem regime in South Vietnam from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s. France’s foreign aid management system consists of four levels: the first level is the Inter-Ministerial Committee for International Cooperation and Development (CICID), which is chaired by the Prime Minister and composed of 12 ministers related to development assistance. Its main function is to formulate annual A master plan that determines the direction of French aid and monitors whether the relevant agencies of French development cooperation are consistent with priority policies in terms of areas and fields of assistance. The second level is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, Economy and Industry, which are responsible for the determination, management and monitoring of specific foreign aid cooperation contents, among which the Ministry of Finance, Economy and Industry plays a decisive role. The third level is the French Development Agency, which, as the foreign aid execution department, is responsible for the implementation and management of foreign aid cooperation plans and economic and technical cooperation projects. The fourth level is composed of the French High Council for International Cooperation and the French International Cooperation Public Interest Group. The main task of the former is to make suggestions to government departments on aid policies, while the latter is to promote French technical assistance institutions to better Adapt to new requirements for bilateral cooperation and enhance France’s competitiveness in the international bidding market in this field. This multi-level, multi-angle foreign aid management structure further strengthens the functions of foreign aid from both macro and micro fields, and also makes aid more transparent and effective.