than HIPCs, may owe heavy debts, so that appropriate measures must be taken to make sure such debts do not stand in the way of their stable medium- to long-term development. In 2003, the Paris Club $ ^{12} $ adopted a new Paris Club approach to debt restructuring (the Evian Approach), which examines measures that correspond to respective situations of low-income and middle-income indebted countries other than HIPCs, with focusing more on debt sustainability. The approach takes comprehensive debt relief measures for a country that is considered insolvent, from the perspective of debt sustainability, as long as the country meets certain criteria.

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Japan conducts assistance while paying due consideration to ensuring that debt issues do not arise in developing countries. Furthermore, for countries where debt issues have arisen, Japan works to resolve problems through an international framework, with the basic position that it is important for indebted countries to achieve medium-to-long-term growth and to recover their debt servicing capability through their own efforts. For example, Japan provides cooperation for debt relief measures through debt rescheduling, $ ^{13} $ cancellation, and reduction measures that were agreed upon at the Paris Club. In accordance with the Enhanced HIPC Initiative agreed upon at the G8 Gleneagles 2005, Japan has cancelled about ¥500 billion debts since FY2003. In FY2007, Japan allowed Sierra Leone not to repay ODA loans of about ¥3.9 billion. Japan conducts monitoring based on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) to ensure that debt cancellation can contribute to poverty reduction and to the overall social and economic development of the indebted countries.

## (8) Cultural Rehabilitation and Promotion

Japan’s record in FY2007 is as follows:

Technical cooperation
19 trainees accepted $ ^{14} $
Grant aid
Cultural Grant Aid: ¥1.79 billion (14 projects, to 14 countries)
Grant Assistance for Cultural Grassroots
Project: Approx. ¥0.2 billion (35 projects, to 27 countries)

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Historic cultural heritage should be preserved for the future. Many developing countries indicate a cultural aspect in their nation building efforts with highly increasing interests in cultural promotion. Cultural heritage can foster national pride and raise people's income through its utilization for tourism. However, developing countries often struggle with securing necessary budget for appropriate preservation and renovation, and some of the heritage sites are not suitably well-preserved. As cultural heritage is indispensable for local communities as well as the whole international community, the matter should be regarded as an issue for the world.

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Japan has made various efforts for cultural promotion and historic sites preservation in developing countries. Its cultural grant aid, one of few financial aids specifically aimed at culture, supports the promotion of culture and higher education in developing countries, and it is admired in the world. For example, in FY2007, the Japanese cultural grant aid supplied Natural History Museum of Mongolia for its exhibition and audio-visual equipment. In Turkey, Japan financed the construction of Kaman Kalehöyük Archaeological Museum, which is expected to play a role in preserving local historic sites and attracting tourists. Besides these, Japan's grant assistance for grassroots projects assisted improvement of Equipment of Permanent Exposition for the University Anthropological Museum of University of Technology in El Salvador. As well, it supported for repairing National Museum of Guinea, enhancing people's interests and pride regarding national history and tradition.

Also, Japan has established the UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust for the Preservation of World Cultural Heritage at UNESCO to assist preserving unattended cultural heritage in developing countries, donating approximately US$53.4 million by FY2007. The fund is involved in preserving and renovating cultural heritage, arranging necessary experts and equipment, preliminary investigations, and human resources development. Concerning the preservation and restoration of historic monuments, for example, the fund carried out 32 projects including those for the Angkor Monuments in Cambodia and Moai of Easter Island in Chile. Japan has also set up the UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust.