An advisory panel to Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi may urge the government to weigh the possibility of creating a new agency to oversee Japan's official development assistance in line with moves to reform the nation's diplomatic operations, it was learned Thursday.
The 13-member Panel for Change -- comprising business leaders, academics and former diplomats -- is scheduled to submit a report to Kawaguchi on Tuesday, outlining ways to reform the scandal-tainted Foreign Ministry and make the nation's foreign aid more effective.
A draft report under deliberation and obtained by Kyodo News says the government should consider establishing the new agency, under the Cabinet Office, to integrate ODA-related work now handled by various ministries and agencies.
The proposal is likely to face stiff opposition from within the ministry, as the creation of such an agency would dilute the ministry's influence over ODA -- one of Japan's key diplomatic tools.
During a Diet debate earlier in the day, Kawaguchi denied the government is discussing the creation of a new "ODA agency."
The panel also recommended that the ministry set a target on the number of people from outside the ministry who can be handed ambassadorial assignments, according to the draft.
But panel members remain divided over how many of Japan's ambassadors should come from outside the nation's elite diplomatic corps. According to one panel member, some have argued that up to 25 percent of ambassadors should be recruited from outside the ministry organization.
The panel, headed by Orix Corp. Chairman Yoshihiko Miyauchi, was commissioned by Kawaguchi to come up with ways to improve the ministry, which has been plagued by a series of scandals, including ministry officials fraudulently obtaining public funds and having improper ties with disgraced lawmaker Muneo Suzuki.