Reverse Linkage

78 REVERSE LINKAGE ing the details of successful efforts, including those achieved through Japan’s cooperation; contributing to the promotion of regional and global cooperation; and complementing and supplementing bilateral cooperation bolstered by the knowl- edge and experience of developing countries. In recognition of these effects, JICA supports the dispatch of experts from one country to another and the hosting of trainees in a third country, an exchange known as the third country training programme (TCTP). In recent decades, JICA has consistently received approximately 3,500 trainees per year under TCTP. JICA also believes that SSC can help developing countries to mutually deepen their relationships and achieve their development agenda. The agency is collaborating widely in Triangular Cooperation through which developed coun- tries, developing countries, and international institutions work together with unified goals. This framework for part- nerships is actively adopted worldwide, including in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. JICA runs the partnership programme (PP) for SSC and Triangular Cooperation with 12 countries, including Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Even outside the PP frame- work, JICA conducts TCTPs with countries such as Turkey, Morocco, and Iran. In the MENA region, JICA focuses on two priority areas in Triangular Cooperation – fostering partnerships in the region and neighbouring regions; and supporting efforts made toward peace and stability in conflict-affected areas. Since 2007, JICA has supported training programmes for 13,461 officials in the MENA region alone, as implementing countries. More than half of the programme trainees have come from the region, with 25 per cent from Africa and the rest from other regions such as South Asia (including Afghanistan) and Europe (the Balkans). Jordan has received the largest number of trainees from neighbouring countries, mostly from Palestine and Iraq. Egypt has received the second largest number, of whom one-third has come from MENA and two-thirds from Africa. Meanwhile, Morocco and Tunisia invite participants mainly fromAfrica. Turkey’s programme focuses on the Balkan and Central Asia regions, Training in rice cultivation techniques, targeting Africa Image: JICA/Hiroki Gomi