also become necessary to coordinate efforts with international aid programs by formulating Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and sectorwide development plans as frameworks for development efforts.

Japan responds to this demand for high-level assistance in “software” in various ways, including the dispatch of policy advisors and help in improving developing countries’ legal systems. Japanese trade and investment professionals as well as experts in such fields as economics, jurisprudence, and infrastructure work closely with the government officials in developing countries responsible for economic reform and other policymakers. This process helps build mutual trust, leading to policymaking support projects, where Japan provides advice on long-term development policies that truly match the needs of each developing country. This approach has attracted considerable attention as an example of a uniquely Japanese way of providing expertise. Typical of this approach is the “Study on the Economic Development Policy in the Transition toward a Market-Oriented Economy in the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.”

To ensure the sound development of local industries and facilitate technology transfers from abroad, developing countries must also provide adequate protection for intellectual property rights. Japan will need to provide support for institution building so as to promote developing countries' undertakings in this field.

It is also vital to enable people in developing countries to respond to economic and social development needs and rapid structural changes brought about by globalization. Developing countries thus harbor great expectations of support in the area of human resources development. Japan provides such support in a broad range of fields in ASEAN and other economies, solidifying their industrial structures by promoting the growth of small and medium-sized businesses—which form the backbone of industry—and strengthening the function of human resources training institutions.

## (3) Promoting Wide-Area and South-South Cooperation

South-South cooperation refers to the assistance that more advanced developing countries provide by using their own development experience and human resources for other developing countries. Wide-area cooperation, meanwhile, occurs between neighboring countries with relatively similar social structures, cultures, and economic conditions. The types of technology and knowledge that can be transferred in both cases are similar, and aid can be provided at comparatively low cost. It is thus extremely important to encourage these approaches, which have benefits in terms of both the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of development cooperation. South-South cooperation and wide-area cooperation not only help strengthen international partnership and expand aid resources but also foster personnel exchange among developing countries, contribute to regional stability, and encourage good-neighborly relations.

Japan provides support to South-South cooperation through such schemes as “third country training,” $ ^{8} $ whereby technology transferred from Japan is used in programs for trainees from neighboring countries, and “third country experts $ ^{9} $ programs,” under which trained personnel from developing countries are dispatched as experts to other developing countries. For example, when the “Jomo Kenyatta