long term development efforts by developing countries themselves. Moreover, to respond to globalization, developing and developed countries need to work together to build tangible and intangible human networks and to establish cooperative relations in order to gain and share promptly the necessary information and support. Human resource development cooperation by Japan's ODA is not limited to the East Asian region. It is also implemented in the African region and many others of the world, covering a wide range of fields necessary for the national infrastructure of recipient countries including agriculture, forestry and fisheries, health care, education, vocational training, administration and environmental conservation. Japan's human resource development support is also highly evaluated by ODA experts, and it is one of the ODA programs that has a high level of visibility in recipient countries. Furthermore, human resource development support provided through people-to-people cooperation goes beyond cooperation in the development aspect. It is also serves to deepen mutual goodwill and understanding with the people of the partner country, through transferring Japan's excellent technology and know-how and people-to-people exchange.

## Accomplishments of human resource development support

Japan's support for human resource development is implemented through the Trainee Acceptance Program, the Youth Invitation Program, the Expert Dispatch Program, the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) Program, the Senior Volunteer Program and others. Since joining the Colombo Plan in 1954, Japan has accepted trainees from

Top: Pamphlet produced by JICA to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of King Mongkut's Institute of Technology, Ladkrabang (produced when Prime Minister Eisaku Sato visited the Institute) Bottom: King Mongkut's Institute of Technology, Ladkrabang

developing countries every year. The scale of acceptance has recently reached the level of 20,000 trainees per year. Meanwhile, in the Expert Dispatch Program, approximately 3,000 experts are dispatched every year and the JOCV Program, more than 1,000 JOCVs. In addition, using facilities built through grant aid (hospitals, vocational training centers, environmental centers etc.) as bases, Japan has positively implemented support which systematically combines various forms of assistance including dispatch of experts and invitation of the relevant people as trainees, involved in those facilities from developing countries. In the following paragraphs, several examples of Japan's contribution to the development of developing countries through such human resource development support will be introduced.

King Mongkut's Institute of Technology, Ladkrabang (KMITL) in Thailand, mentioned also in Section 1, has its origins in the Nontaburi Telecommunications Training Center established in 1960 by Japan's ODA. Since then, through the enthusiasm of the Thai side and 40 years of continued support from Japan, KMITL has grown into Thailand's foremost science and technology university. It currently consists of six engineering-related faculties, a graduate school (including doctoral courses), and the Research Center for Communication and Information Technology (ReCCTT). It has approximately 15,000 students (including approximately 3,600 in masters' courses and approximately 90 in doctoral courses) and approximately 800 teachers. KMITL boasts the highest standard in Thailand, particularly in the electronics-related fields for which Japan has provided focused support, and it produces electrical engineering professors, which are few in number in Thailand. Its success also extends beyond the borders of Thailand. KMITL has become a base for third-country training for Southeast Asian countries such as Laos, and it is widely known as a symbol of the friendship between Japan and Thailand.