### 8. Europe

Japan's ODA given to Europe on a bilateral basis totaled approximately 215.47 million dollars in 2003, accounting for 3.6% of the total bilateral ODA.

Countries in Central and Eastern Europe have been making transition to democracy and market economy since the collapse of communism in 1989. To support their efforts, the EU took the initiative in establishing the G24 (Meeting of the Group of 24 to coordinate assistance to Eastern Europe). Since then, Japan has been giving assistance to Central and Eastern Europe and Baltic States for almost 15 years in harmony with the international community's efforts to support the region.

In Central and Eastern Europe, the development level greatly differs from one country to another. Ten countries including three Baltic states (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Cyprus, and Malta) reformed their domestic systems with determination, while receiving assistance from other countries. As a result, the ten countries joined the EU in May 2004. Japan has been providing these countries with comprehensive long-term assistance in order to improve the living conditions of citizens suffering economic and social difficulties caused by the transition of their systems and also to contribute to the smooth transition of their systems. As these new EU member countries have already transformed themselves from recipients of assistance to providers of assistance, Japan needs to adjust its assistance and role to the changing situations in Europe and to shift assistance to other regions and fields where there is more the demand for assistance. For this reason, Japan allocates an increasing proportion of its assistance to Europe to the region's less developed countries such as Western Balkan states, Ukraine, and Moldova. Making effective use of the know-how accumulated through giving assistance over almost 15 years, Japan has been offering Triangular Cooperation in which Japan uses Hungary and Poland as a base to transfer technology and give other assistance to third countries such as Ukraine and Western Balkan states. Through this process, Japan has been assisting Central and Eastern European countries to become donors of assistance themselves.

To Romania and Bulgaria, which are trying to become EU member countries in 2007, Japan has been giving assistance to promote trade and investment, in order to develop their economies and also helping those countries take environmental measures that should have been implemented earlier. Japan has been providing both countries with active support. For example, in 2003, Japan commenced the Study on "Coastal Protection of the Romanian Black Sea Shore." The Black Sea coast is located at the estuary of the Danube Delta, which is designated as a World Heritage and an Environmental Protection Area. The Danube Delta is an important tourist attraction in Romania.

In contrast, Ukraine and Moldova still have many prob-

Chart II -37 Japan's ODA Disbursements to Europe

2003

(Net disbursement basis, $ million)

Rank	Country or region	Grant	Yen loans, etc.	Total
Grant aid	Technical cooperation	Total
1	Romania	0.85	10.60	11.45	59.48	70.93
2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	28.63	4.93	33.55	20.41	53.97
3	Bulgaria	0.38	5.51	5.90	19.28	25.18
4	Serbia and Montenegro	11.77	0.31	12.07	-	12.07
5	Slovakia	0.42	1.96	2.39	8.67	11.06
6	Albania	4.72	0.50	5.21	5.45	10.67
7	Hungary	0.77	5.81	6.58	-	6.58
8	Macedonia	3.37	1.38	4.75	-	4.75
9	Moldova	2.91	1.40	4.30	-	4.30
10	Czech Republic	0.48	1.33	1.81	-0.00	1.81
11	Croatia	0.84	0.58	1.43	-0.43	1.00
12	Poland	0.40	6.01	6.41	-9.98	-3.57
Others	15.47	1.97	17.44	-0.71	16.72
Europe Total	71.01	42.28	113.29	102.18	215.47

Note: (1) The geographic division was made based on the classification by the Foreign Ministry.

(2) Includes Eastern Europe and graduated countries.

(3) As the figures in the table are rounded off, they do not necessarily add up to the totals.