Japan has increased its defense aid program budget for fiscal year 2025 by 60 percent compared to the previous year. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba allocated $51 million under the Official Security Assistance framework to help the country’s international allies and partners acquire military technologies to enhance their national security and promote regional stability, according to Kyodo News.
The OSA is part of the $733 billion budget approved by Ishiba’s cabinet in December. Although Tokyo has not yet finalized the list of recipients for the 2025 defense aid, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have disclosed that Malaysia and the Philippines are likely candidates. Papua New Guinea is also expected to be included, along with other Pacific island nations currently under consideration.
The OSA program was initiated in 2023 as a response to China’s increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly regarding its claim over maritime authority in the South China Sea and East China Sea. Through this aid, Tokyo aims to enhance the defense capabilities of developing nations, enabling them to conduct humanitarian operations and participate in United Nations peacekeeping missions.
Support for security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region has been growing both within the region and from external partners. Adm. Rob Bauer, chair of the NATO Military Committee, emphasized during a keynote address at the Seoul Defense Dialogue in September that NATO and its Indo-Pacific partners “will further intensify” their military cooperation to deter adversarial actions by Russia and China. In October, the inaugural Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience plenary meeting pledged to strengthen defense industrial collaboration among the United States, its allies and partners.