Japan promises $3 bil in funding to ASEAN nations from 2020

Investment and loans = Marketing and Promotion for products made by Japanese companies. JICA have been doing this for years with pharmceuticals and white goods companies. Makes sense...

Trouble is that China has been doing it at a faster pace and for much longer.

I feel the horse has already fled the barn.

Guess who is funding this at the end of the day? You and me. Think about what else you could have used the $3 billion for (or even the $1.2 JICA portion)? We are also assuming this “loan” will get paid back. And now the recent article about IMF suggesting a much higher sales tax....