Reverse Linkage

80 REVERSE LINKAGE countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. The courses cover various sectors such as Islamic finance, small and medium size enterprise development, agriculture, tourism development and other crucial and promising sectors for Palestine’s economic and social development. Besides training, JICA also supports the dispatch of experts from East Asian countries to Palestine, another activity highly welcomed by both sides. The CEAPAD facilitation mechanism (CEAFAM) aims at the expansion of financial and technical partnerships for Palestine in cooperation with IsDB. Two projects have been financed through CEAFAM. The first, a project proposed by the Indonesian, not-for-profit People Centred Business and Economic Institute (IBEKA), has successfully organized a workshop in Jordan and dispatched Indonesian experts to Palestine. Palestinian participants in the workshop have subsequently identified community participatory develop- ment needs in sustainable energy and poverty reduction sectors in the West Bank. The second, a project proposed by Wafaa International Group, an Indonesian NPO, has successfully established a cloud fund portal for Palestinians. JICA plays a vital role in maximising the impact of CEAPAD and CEAFAM. On top of the financial contribu- tions it provides for training programmes, JICA extends technical support to the Ministry of Finance and Planning of the Palestinian Authority in finding Palestinian needs and matching them with resources in East Asian countries. CEAPAD and CEAFAM are both overwhelmingly important and show strong promise as emblems of the commitment and intentions of the international commu- nity in supporting Palestinian efforts to establish a viable and prosperous independent state. Experts from Indonesian NGO, IBEKA, conduct a field survey on water facilities in the West Bank of Palestine under the CEAFAM scheme, supported by JICA and IsDB Image: JICA