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Japan's engagement with MENA countries
September 2011
I Priorities in our support to MENA countries' reform
The Government of Japan (GOJ) will support Middle Eastern and
North African (MENA) countries' reform and transition efforts by
working in close partnership with our private sector, as well as
with relevant government-affiliated agencies such as the Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japan External
Trade Organization (JETRO), the Japan Bank for International
Cooperation (JBIC), the New Energy and Industrial Technology
Development Organization (NEDO) and the Japan Foundation (JF).
1 Fair political process and government
1.
(1)
Electoral assistance:
GOJ has been taking steps to support elections in Tunisia and
Egypt, which are both in the processes of transition, with such
means as the dispatch of experts to assist with management of
their respective electoral processes. GOJ will send a high-level
monitoring mission to the
Constituent
Assembly's election in Tunisia scheduled for October 23.
2.
(2)
Support for good governance:
GOJ is prepared to support MENA countries in their respective
efforts to establish fair and effective government. As part of
this effort, GOJ welcomes MENA countries' participation in
training courses for governmental officials to be organized by
JICA. GOJ is also prepared to respond positively to requests by
MENA countries to send Japanese experts to support the
activities of their government agencies. In addition, GOJ is
committed to supporting the enhancement of civil society and
media in the region. As part of this effort, GOJ is currently
implementing a project to assist Tunisia's national TV
broadcasting center by providing necessary equipment and
training courses for its engineers.
3.
(3)
Addressing disparity and enhancing stability:
GOJ is supporting MENA countries in their effort to address
disparity and enhance stability of their respective societies,
by implementing aid projects in such areas as rural development,
poverty reduction, water resources development and disaster
prevention. As part of this effort, the yearly average of
Japanese grant aid to MENA countries during the past 5 years has
amounted to about US $250 million/year. GOJ has also been
supporting the Middle East Water Desalination Research Center,
while providing technical cooperation to MENA countries in
various ways, as well as yen loans to build necessary
infrastructure such as water supply facilities. For this
purpose, GOJ has recently decided to extend a non- project grant
aid of approx. US $ 6.5 million to Egypt. A variety of training
courses, expert-dispatch programs, as well as
government-to-government policy dialogues are being conducted
with the aim of sharing Japanese experience and expertise in
such fields as disaster prevention and water management
(including desalination procedures) with MENA countries. GOJ is
also supporting the enhancement of counter-terrorism
capabilities in the region, including the provision of
border-control equipment to be used in an airport.
2 Human resource development
1.
(1)
Development of vocational training and other educational
facilities:
GOJ has been supporting the development and improvement of
vocational training facilities and schools in MENA countries.
During the past 5 years, on a yearly average, about 20,000
school-children/year, and about 1,200 trainees/year benefited
from Japanese grant aid projects for schools and vocational
training facilities. GOJ has also granted a total of \160
million (about US$ 2 million) in grants to five universities in
the region, including Yemen and Syria. GOJ will continue to
intensively support the development of vocational training and
other educational facilities in this region in this fiscal year
as well.
2.
(2)
Capacity building of industrial engineers:
GOJ has been promoting the implementation of programs aimed at
strengthening expertise of industrial personnel in MENA
countries, through various schemes sponsored by such bodies as
JICA, JETRO, JCCME and JCCP. These include acceptance of
trainees and dispatch of experts, as well as holding of seminars
and workshops, designed to train MENA personnel in productivity
improvement, energy conservation, new energy and petroleum
refining, and other relevant subjects. To this end, during the
past 5 years, JICA has accepted on average over 2,500
trainees/year from MENA countries while dispatching about 350
experts/year.
3.
(3)
Higher education in science and technology:
GOJ has been promoting higher education in science and
technology in MENA countries by actively engaging in
industry-government-academia cooperation. This includes Japanese
engagement in Egypt's E-JUST project (Egypt-Japan-University of
Science and Technology), as well as the Science and Technology
Park project in Tunisia.
3 Job creation, Fostering of Industries
1.
(1)
Continuing infrastructure development:
In order to foster industries and create jobs in MENA region,
GOJ has been engaging in the development of necessary
infrastructures in the region, including through the provision
of yen loans. The yearly average of the amount of yen loans
committed by GOJ to MENA countries during the past 5 years is
about $1.5 billion per year. While continuing to steadily
implement the on-going yen-loan projects for which approx. $2.5
billion are still to be disbursed, as we committed on the
occasion of the G8 Summit of Deauville this May, GOJ further
intends to provide additional yen-loan of about $1 billion in
total in the near future. NEDO-sponsored pilot-projects are also
underway, including its solar thermal power generation project
in Tunisia as well as its solar power generation project in
Morocco.
2.
(2)
Industry diversification (including SMEs), improvement of
investment environment:
GOJ has been supporting MENA countries in their effort to
generate jobs by promoting industry diversification (including
SMEs), through such vehicles as government-to-government policy
dialogues, as well as dispatch of business missions to the
region to promote international "business matching". For
example, GOJ has dispatched to the region business missions
focusing on energy conservation and new energy to coincide with
previous rounds of the World Future Energy Summit that are held
annually in UAE. A mission comprising of government and business
personnel has also recently visited Iraq. Japan-Saudi Business
Opportunities Forum, which will be convened in the near future
in Japan, will be another such occasion. GOJ, welcoming MENA
countries' initiatives to improve their respective investment
environments, is considering ways to support these efforts.
3.
(3)
Sharing Japanese experience and know-how:
GOJ is promoting the transfer of Japanese experience and
expertise in such areas as the improvement of productivity in
the manufacturing sector, trade promotion, renewable energy and
energy conservation. Japanese experts are dispatched to MENA
countries and trainees are received from those countries.
?U
Forging multi-layered relationships between Japan and MENA
countries: Advancing economic relationships and mutual
understanding with MENA countries
GOJ will continue to consolidate and expand the multi-layered
relationships that exist between Japan and MENA countries. Such
development is expected to create a positive environment for our
support to MENA countries' reform and transition process as
described above. To this end, GOJ will promote economic
diplomacy, people-to-people exchange and intellectual dialogue,
while enhancing our engagement with MENA countries in the area
of natural resources. GOJ will also forge a network of personal
contacts in the MENA region through a variety of activities,
including our human resources development programs.
1 Economic Diplomacy
1.
(1)
Economic treaties:
GOJ will advance the process of concluding economic treaties
with MENA countries. A negotiation on a free trade agreement
with GCC is underway. GOJ has already initiated a preparatory
negotiation to conclude an investment treaty with Algeria, while
the first round of negotiations with Iraq on an investment
treaty has just commenced in September this year. Our
negotiation on an investment treaty with Kuwait has already been
agreed in principle. Our tax convention with Kuwait will take
effect after approval by
the Kuwaiti Parliament. Our tax convention with Saudi Arabia
took effect on September 1st this year.
2.
(2)
Promoting business-to-business relationships:
GOJ, working in close partnership with our private sector, has
been actively encouraging the strengthening of business
activities between Japan and MENA economies. This aspect is
becoming all the more significant with the increased importance
of securing the supply of fuel. At the Second Meeting of the
Japan-Arab Economic Forum, which was convened in Tunisia last
year in December, the participants agreed on priority areas for
governments and businesses of both Japan and MENA economies that
should receive special focus. These areas included solar energy,
water, infrastructure (including railway and satellite
infrastructure), human resource development/education, science
and technology and finance. The next meeting of the Forum will
be held in Japan in 2012. GOJ is also supporting the
strengthening of relationships between Japanese business
organizations and their counterparts in the MENA region. These
include such ties as the one between JETRO and the Arab League,
between JCCP and the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting
Countries, and between JCCME and the General Union of Arab
Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture. GOJ is also
supporting such frameworks of business-to-business dialogue as
the Joint Meeting of Japanese-Kuwaiti Businessmen Committee,
Japan-Saudi Business Council, Japan-Qatar Investment Forum (the
next meeting will be held in 2012), Abu Dhabi-Japan Economic
Council and Japan Cooperation Forum for the Middle East (this
year’s session was convened in Istanbul this August).
2 Forging people-to-people relationships and dialogues
1.
(1)
Expanding the network of personal contacts in the MENA region
through our human resources development activities:
GOJ will forge and expand the network of personal contacts in
the MENA region through such activities as our training programs
and dispatching of experts.
2.
(2)
Promoting the understanding of Japanese culture and society in
the MENA region:
To arouse interest in Japan among the younger generation in the
MENA region, Japan provides materials for TV programs containing
episodes relevant to socio-economic development of MENA
countries, introduces Japanese pop-culture, and assists TV
stations in the region to produce programs featuring Japan. A
Japanese exhibition pavilion was set up during the Janadriyah
Festival in Saudi Arabia this April to showcase Japanese
traditions as well as advanced technologies, attracting more
than 3 hundred thousand visitors.
3.
(3)
"Dialogue for the Future between Japan and the Islamic World":
This year in March, Zayed University of the United Arab Emirates
hosted the first meeting of the "Dialogue for the Future between
Japan and the Islamic World", which brings together younger
generation and intellectuals from both Japan and the Islamic
world aiming at deepening mutual understanding. This was the
first one of the three meetings that would be held. Preparation
for the next meeting is under way, with Jordan being considered
as its venue. Its focus will be the capacity building of youths.
4.
(4)
People-to-people exchange for the next generation:
GOJ will increase mutual visits between Japan and the MENA
countries this year to over one hundred persons per year. Japan
Foundation will implement such visit programs which cover
members of the media, intellectuals and cultural figures.
5.
(5)
Government-sponsored scholarships:
GOJ has sponsored a total of 514 students from MENA countries to
study in Japan during the past 5 years.
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