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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/31/australias-support-to-pacific-surges-as-china-focuses-on-friendly-states-aid-map-shows>
"Australia dramatically increased its overall support to the Pacific in 2021,
while Beijing is targeting its development financing to “the most
China-friendly Pacific island states”, the latest Lowy Institute Pacific Aid
Map shows.
The map, released on Tuesday, also revealed that at a time of elevated debt
sustainability risks in the Pacific, Australia has become the leading source of
loans and contributed to a surge in infrastructure support.
“Australia looks set to become the region’s dominant infrastructure financier,
having committed an additional $780m in new projects,” the Lowy Institute
research associate and map co-producer, Riley Duke, said.
The map draws on more that 70m data points, from publicly available documents
and other sources, to track the flow of aid and development funds to the
region. The 14 Pacific Island nations tracked received a record $4.8bn in
official development finance (ODF) in 2021.
Alexandre Dayant, a Lowy Institute research fellow and project director of the
Pacific Aid Map, said the map revealed a “new era” of development financing
with supporting nations introducing new financing instruments. In the past,
Pacific development financing relied heavily on grants from donors for
governance and human development. This has shifted, with donors increasing
their use of direct budget support and loans to deliver ODF, the Lowy Institute
said. This type of funding shift can increase debt sustainability risks for the
region, the institute added.
Australia is the Pacific’s largest development partner, disbursing $17bn
between 2008 and 2021, making up nearly 40% of the region’s ODF. The Lowy
Institute said Australia’s high level of ODF support to the Pacific was
“followed at a distance” by the Asian Development Bank, China, New Zealand and
Japan.
In 2021, Australia committed $1.89bn in ODF – up from $968m in 2020 and $1.34bn
in 2019. Australia extended a $466m loan to Papua New Guinea in 2021, making it
the largest transaction ever recorded in the Pacific Aid Map.
The 77% increase in Australia’s infrastructure commitments in the Pacific comes
as Pacific Island governments need “significant external support” to build new
and maintain existing roads, ports and telecommunications infrastructure, Duke
said."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
