Reverse Linkage

81 DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION Case 2 – Egypt Egypt, a major power in the Middle East and Africa, plays an important role in regional peace and stability. In cooper- ation with Egypt, JICA has provided technical and financial support to countries of the region since 1985, efficiently and effectively improving the capacity of those countries based on their similarities, and strengthening regional coopera- tion. More than 20 training programmes are conducted every year for African and Middle Eastern countries to address the needs of each region. As an example of a programme for Africa, JICA and Egypt have been collaboratively providing training programmes with the aim of using advanced cultivation technologies to support the efforts of African countries to double rice produc- tion, an initiative announced in the TICAD framework. The background of Egypt’s advanced technologies has roots in Japanese cooperation activities from the 1980s. Technologies transferred through JICA’s technical cooperation and facilities constructed through grant aid are being used in the current training programmes. One participant has commented: “Training is a unique opportunity to learn new technologies. After the programme, I shared the technologies learned with farmers in my country. As a result, we were able to increase the volume of rice production in our region by 25 per cent.” JICA and Egypt also conduct training programmes for Middle Eastern countries in the areas of health, water resources, tourism, electricity, and trade relations. The programmes range widely from multi-country initiatives in the region to programmes in individual countries such as Iraq, Palestine, and Yemen. Egypt’s geographic proxim- ity and common linguistic heritage contributes to both the efficiency and effectiveness of the initiatives. Image: JICA Seminar on hospital infection control, targeting the Middle East