for Asia and the Pacific (ECO ASIA 2007), which was held in September 2007 in Fukuoka. Environment ministers and other representatives from Asia and the Pacific freely exchanged opinions at this meeting. The participants recognized the significance of creating national and Asia-wide SMCs and agreed that, in order to achieve this goal, they should work in cooperation to more actively foster policy dialogue on the 3Rs and to disseminate information on 3R-related policies, technologies and good practices in order to develop regional visions.

In East Asia, the Regional Forum on Environment and Health was organized in August 2007 with the aim of promoting collaboration between environment ministries and health ministries in order to improve the regional capability to cope with local environmental and health problems. The forum comprises 14 countries, namely, 10 Southeast Asian countries and Japan, China, South Korea and Mongolia. For about the next three years, the forum will conduct its activities through six thematic working groups (TWGs), one of which is the TWG on Solid and Hazardous Waste, chaired by Japan. Focusing on urban and medical waste, this TWG will collect and share good practices from different countries and compile recommendations for regional initiatives to tackle the common challenges facing member countries. The first meeting of the TWG was held in February 2008 in Singapore to share updates on national initiatives and good practices for medical waste management and to develop a future work plan. Japan expects that this TWG will conduct continuous follow-ups on the urban and medical waste problems discussed at the Asia 3R Conference and improve information sharing.

## (3) Construction of information centers and research networks for the 3Rs

It is critically important that Asian countries adopt technologies and develop systems that are suitable for their own situations. To establish a SMC Society in Asia, it is also necessary to efficiently accumulate and provide 3R-related knowledge and technical information. Therefore, the Ministry of the Environment supports content creation for the 3R Knowledge Hub, an information center established and operated as part of an initiative led by the ADB and the UNEP Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific.

The Japanese government also assists the activities of the Society of Solid Waste Management Experts in Asia & Pacific Islands (SWAPI), organized under the leadership of the Japan Society of Waste Management Experts, in the expectation that this organization will develop as a network of Asian researchers and experts in waste management and the 3Rs. At the Third East Asia Summit in November 2007, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced “Japan’s Environmental Cooperation Initiative,” which states that Japan will “establish an ‘Asia 3Rs Research and Information Network’ with a view to assisting 3Rs-related activities in each country through the sharing of policies and good-practices.” It declares Japan’s determination to help foster coordination between the 3R Knowledge Hub and SWAPI and between these frameworks and each country’s competent authorities.

## (4) Technology cooperation and infrastructure development for the 3Rs and waste management

As part of official development assistance (ODA) to developing countries, JICA provides technology cooperation aimed at capacity building and improving coordination of the central government, local governments and the private sector. Assistance to the central government includes