Products created by the One Village, One Product movement in Africa (Source: Jiji)

presidents, ministers, and other government officials of the three countries similarly expressed their high appreciation and admiration for Japanese efforts, which proved that the initiative met the needs and demands of developing countries. Improving market access for LDCs through DFQF treatment has been an agenda also in the arena of the UN, such as in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Programme of Action for the LDCs. In 2007, Japan expanded the coverage of the goods subject to DFQF to LDCs to 8,859 tariff lines. As a result, the coverage has increased to about 98% in terms of number and more than 99% in terms of value, thus achieving the 97% agreed in the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration in 2005 as the goal for the immediate future.

## Promotion of Economic Partnerships

In recent years, Japan has been actively promoting economic partnerships through Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). In addition to traditional trade in goods, these agreements widely cover investment rules, the liberalization of trade in services, the movement of natural persons, government procurement, protection of intellectual property rights, competition policies, and improvement of business environments. The agreements not only advance economic partnerships between Japan and the partner countries, but also have significant implications in terms of contributing to the economic growth of the countries concerned. The Medium-Term ODA Policy states Japan's intention to provide development assistance strategically in order to make the impact of EPAs even larger by supporting the improvement of trade and investment environments as well as the economic infrastructure of developing countries and regions such as Asia with which Japan has been promoting EPAs.

Concretely, Japanese assistance extends to institution building on trade and investment as well as human resources development, to establishing domestic legal systems such as the protection of intellectual properties and competition policies, and to enhancing capacities including customs and immigration control. As well, Japan implements various areas of assistance such as ICT, science and technology, small and medium-scale enterprises, energy, agriculture, tourism, and the environment. As part of the cooperation related to the EPA with Thailand, which entered into force in November 2007, it has been in progress that the Japanese and Thai public and private sectors together build a structure for preparation. This can enable Thailand to develop human resources by themselves in supporting industries for the automobile and parts industry, which is its priority. Through the cooperation with JICA, JETRO, and others, the project implements overall operational management, contribution of equipment, and dispatch of experts to advise the government. As well, mainly local offices of Japanese companies carry out the fostering of Thai leaders and the development of a proficiency system.

See also Column 6 on page 63 for further details about this project.

Furthermore, Japan actively promotes agricultural cooperation between both countries. It supports training to improve the quality of Thailand’s agricultural products, as well as the fostering of leaders in agricultural villages.

## (6) OOF and Cooperation with the Private Sector

##

The international circumstances on development assistance have recently put emphasis on “poverty reduction through economic growth,” which Japan has persistently advocated. The G8 Development Ministers Meeting in Tokyo, the Fourth Meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), and the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, all of which were held in 2008, confirmed the importance of developing countries’ economic growth as well as the significant role of the private sector to achieve it. Private investment is indispensable for economic growth as it can bring about effects such as employment generation and tax revenue increase, which cannot be achieved by ODA alone. From this perspective, leaders of developing countries often call for investment from Japanese companies, in addition to ODA. In East Asia, infrastructure development and human resources development through Japanese ODA have encouraged projects and investments by the private sector, and it greatly contributed to the regional economic growth.

Meanwhile, when private companies commence expanding their businesses in developing countries, they