Japan's ODA has contributed greatly to the economic development and the improvement of the welfare of developing countries, particularly those in the Asian region.

Yen loans, for instance, were extended to help finance the construction of economic infrastructure in the East Asian countries which have been pursuing the development of export-oriented economies. Japan also provided aid to upgrade quality of education and to develop human resources. In combination with the effects of the latter type of aid, the improved economic infrastructure has attracted foreign direct investment to these countries. This has helped increase their production capacity and their export industries, which resulted in expansion of their exports. Furthermore, Japan's aid in these fields, together with the effects of the development of social infrastructure (education, public health and sanitation) financed by grant aid, has made a significant contribution to the improvement of living conditions (decreasing the infant mortality rate, and increasing the availability of safe drinking water, etc.) and to the narrowing of the income gap between urban and rural areas.

Since the 1970s, Japan has stressed the importance of human resources development and has devoted major efforts to the training of skilled workers who would undertake nation-building in developing countries. From 1978 to 1980, for example, Japan extended grant aid to finance the construction of Jomo Kenyatta Agricultural and Engineering University in Kenya. Since 1980, Japan has been extending technical cooperation in a comprehensive way and supplied necessary equipment to the University with the cooperation of Japanese universities. So far, Japan has dispatched more than 500 experts to the university, and has received 160 trainees from it. As a result, the University has turned out more than 1,800 graduates, and they have been actively contributing to the nation-building of Kenya.

In addition, Japan's aid has produced visible results in new fields. For example, with a view to eradicating poliomyelitis by the end of this century, Japan has been providing vaccines and cold-chain as well as technical cooperation in concert with WHO and UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund). As a result, it is expected that poliomyelitis is to be eradicated in the near future from countries in the West Pacific region, including China and the three Indochinese countries.

Although there are a number of successful cases of ODA, they are not well-known by the public in Japan since few Japanese have the opportunity to personally visit aid projects implemented outside Japan.

Whenever a Japanese ODA project is completed in their respective countries, President Fidel Ramos of the Philippines and King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia are accustomed to attending the inauguration ceremony and avail themselves of the opportunity to express their gratitude to the Japanese people. Also local residents have expressed their appreciation on numerous occasions. Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Projects of Japan once received an award by a leading nongovernmental organisation in the United States for the outstanding contribution of these projects.

In recent years, a growing number of Japanese tourists visit developing countries. They are now familiar with the international airport on Bali, Indonesia, the railroad systems and expressways of Jakarta, and the Borobudur Temple-complex and the Prambanan Temple Park, the international airport and expressways of Bangkok and the subway systems of Beijing. However, few tourists realize the fact that Japan's ODA financed construction or revampment of these and a number of other public facilities.

Reported Polio Cases in the Wesern Pacific Region, 1990

Reported Polio Cases in the Wesern Pacific Region, 1994