Japan will continue to persistently urge India to sign and ratify the NPT and CTBT and take other measures for nonproliferation and nuclear arms reduction. Japan will consider taking measures including the resumption of the afore-mentioned economic measures, in the event that India conducts actions contrary to the efforts of the international community on nonproliferation and nuclear arms reduction.

## Section 6 Formulation and Implementation of ODA Policy

The Japanese government should take a series of measures to further enhance its ODA, which has been changing in recent years. These reform measures are specified in the ODA Charter from three points of view: the formulation and implementation systems of assistance policies, increasing public participation, and matters essential for effective implementation. The ODA reform measures that were promoted in fiscal year 2003 are described below. This document has the same structure as that of the ODA Charter.

### 1. System of Formulation and Implementation of ODA Policy

## (1) Coherent Formulation of ODA policy

In Japan, many central ministries and agencies individually provide ODA. They therefore need to prevent any inconsistency among their ODA programs in order to make ODA more effective. It is important for the government as a whole to share the same policy and goals and maintain uniformity. For this purpose, the government determines the Medium-Term Policy and Country Assistance Programs in accordance with the ODA Charter. ODA policies are formulated and implemented based on these policy and programs in cooperation and coordination with various aid providers in the international community.

For more information about the Medium-Term Policy and Country Assistance Programs, see Part II, Chapter 2, Section 1.

## (2) Collaboration among Related Ministries and Agencies

Ministries and agencies need to more closely cooperate and coordinate with each other to maintain the consistency in their ODA programs as a whole. Such cooperation and coordination are essential for effective and efficient implementation of the ODA programs. In an effort to establish and implement policies that represent the unity and consistency of the government as a whole, the government has been enhancing coordination among related ministries and agencies through various measures such as personnel exchanges among those ministries and agencies. In addition, in order to exchange useful information and knowledge among ministries and agencies, the government holds ministerial meetings and other meetings concerning economic assistance to foreign countries and has MOFA (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) act as the main coordinator of these meetings.

These meetings are held at different levels to promote the coordination among related ministries and agencies. The top-level meeting is the ministerial-level Council of Overseas Economic Cooperation-Related Ministers, under which many lower-level meetings are held including the Inter-Ministerial Meeting on ODA, the Bureau meeting for Inter-ministerial meeting on ODA of the ODA-Related Ministry and Agency Liaison Council, Experts Meeting on Financial Cooperation, Experts Meeting of Technical Cooperation, and Inter-Ministerial Meeting on ODA Evaluation. Furthermore, ODA-related ministries and agencies have been strengthening cooperation to provide ODA to specific areas. For example, regarding ODA for the health and medical sector, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and other related ministries and agencies regularly gather for a meeting to exchange information. Regarding ODA for the IT sector, the Cabinet Secretariat's IT Security Office coordinated related ministries and agencies and established a working group to conduct a study on each country covered by the Asia IT Initiative (AITI). Against this backdrop, MOFA plays a role as a key coordinator to implement ODA programs that require collective action of related ministries and agencies based on the Basic Law for Central Government Reform, which was established in June 1998.

## (3) Collaboration between Government and Implementing Agencies

The effective and efficient implementation of ODA requires more than collaboration among related ministries and agencies. The government needs to further cooperate with implementing agencies to provide ODA with consistency through synergistic collaboration. It is therefore important to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the government and implementing agencies (JICA, JBIC, etc.) and maintain synergistic collaboration. To promote such collaboration, the government and implementing agencies should work more closely with each other through such efforts as personnel exchanges. In addition to the collaboration between the government and implementing agencies, it is also important to enhance