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    NewSilkRoad

    F A B L E D

    S A M A R K A N D

    The

    JICAWORLDs

    JANUARY 2013 VOL. 5 N 1 THE MAGAZINE OF THE JAPAN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AGENCY WWW.JICA.GO.JP/ENGLISH

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    JANUARY 2013 JICAS WORLD 32 JICAS WORLD JANUARY 2013

    REV

    IV I N G O N E O FTH

    E WO

    RL D S A

    N CIENT W ON DE RS

    TheNewSilkRoadA Z E R B A I J A N

    Hangzhou

    Nanking

    Beijing

    Kabul

    LhasaLahore

    Delhi

    H I M A L A Y A S

    G R E A T W A L L

    T A K L A M A K A N

    D E S E R T

    Bukhara

    SamarkandTeheran

    Baghdad

    Damascus

    o

    Tashkent

    U Z B E K I S T A N

    Dushanbe

    T A J I K I S T A N

    Bishkek

    K Y R G Y Z S T A N

    Astana

    K A Z A K H S T A NTiblisiG E O R G I A

    Baku

    Istanbul

    T U R K M E N I S T A N

    C H I N A

    Ashgabat

    A R M E N I AYerevan

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    JANUARY 2013 JICAS WORLD 54 JICAS WORLD JANUARY 2013

    t is the most famous highway in

    history. Begun two centuries before the birthof Christ, the so-called Silk Road stretched for

    4,000 miles from China through Central Asia,the Middle East, Constantinople, to the cities of

    the Holy Roman Empire and Europe.Its subsidiary routes eventually reached Japan,

    Afghanistan, India and the sub-continent, southernAsia and even Africa.

    Camel caravans and other pack animals carriedprecious silks from the East and new technologies,philosophies and religionsZoroastrarism, Christi-

    anity, Islam and Buddhismfollowed the traderoutes.

    Empires and dynastiesthe Han, the Persians,the Romans and the Mongolsflourished and per-ished during wars along its routes. Alexander theGreat and Marco Polo were renowned travelers.

    The word was unknown in those fabled times, butthe Silk Road was possibly the most successful infra-structure system ever devisedinterlinked highways,

    bridges, ports, business centers and administrativeand military outposts brought widespread prosperityand the spread of knowledgeand they were nur-tured and protected by the worlds then Great Powers.

    Infrastructure NeededToday infrastructure is ag ain a key

    concept as nations along the original Silk Road inCentral Asia and the Caucasus region struggle to

    overcome decades of under-development, ingrainedpoverty, conflict and ongoing political and social in-stability and achieve sustainable economic and socialgrowth.

    New infrastructure and connectivity, says Tet-suya Yamada, the director of the Central Asia andthe Caucasus Division of the Japan InternationalCooperation Agency (JICA). It is vital that these na-tions not only build new roads and ports but also actin concert and close cooperation, together withdonors and private enterprise, to achieve their goals.Connectivity is key.

    JICA has been involved since the early 1990s witheight nationsArmenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kaza-khstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan andUzbekistanshortly after they became independentfrom the now defunct Sovie t Union. Yamada some-times refers to them as the eight orphans since theyare rarely considered a high priority among devel-opment agencies.

    Despite the imprint of more than a century ofRussian and Soviet Empire, vast stretches of the re-gion retain their geographic splendor and isolation:mountain ranges including the Pamirs and parts ofthe Himalayas, 5,642-meter Mt. Elbrus, the highestpeak in Europe, fabled and little known rivers suchas the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, deserts and sweep-ing plains full of cattle, sheep and horsemen remi-niscent of the Mongolian and Argentine steppes, re-mote mountain villages and fabled cities such as

    (Continuedon page 6)

    The Silk Roadwas possibly

    the mostsuccessful

    infrastructuresystem ever

    devised.

    Despiteeconomic

    impoverish-ment the region

    of 100 milliondiverse ethnic

    groups remainsas it has been

    for centuries,a vitalinternationalcrossroads.

    NEW INFRASTRUCTUREUzbekistan

    Uzbekistan

    Kyrgyzstan

    Armenia

    Azerbaijan

    Samarkand, Tashkent and Bukhara.Despite economic impoverishment the region of

    100 million diverse ethnic groups remains as it hasfor centuries, a vital international crossroads. Amer-ican-led allied troops in Afghanistan, for instance,are supplied in part via these neighboring states.

    With international forces scheduled to leaveAfghanistan in 2014 there is widespread concernabout a potential destabilizing impact and AmericanSecretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011 talked aboutfilling such a void with the creation of a new silkroad incorporating Afghanistan and its neighbors.

    The old Silk Road began to disappear as early asthe 13th century. Christopher Columbus in 1492thought he could forge a new superhighway to theeast, this time by ship, but that never happened anda recent tour of the region only highlighted its currentneeds.

    Millions of ethnic Russians abandoned the newnations following independence. They took their

    knowledge, skills and their businesses with them.Today, the carcasses of rusting, abandoned factori es

    litter the landscape. Highways are often little morethan rutted tracks. Electricity and water supplies ar esporadic or non-existent outside major cities andtowns. Healthcare is generally free, but clinics areunderstaffed and without modern equipment.

    The Main ThrustThe main thrust of JICAs activities is

    the rehabilitation or construction of basic infrastruc-ture such as roads, bridges, airports and power sup-plies, water, irrigation and sewage, the underlyingassessment being that such core infrastructure must

    be in place to spur wider economic and social sus-tainability.

    However, related projects have been undertakenat the same time. With the flight of Russian expertiseone of the most immediate headaches facing thosenewly emerging nations was to restructure rigid com-

    TheewSilkRoad

    ITajikistan

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    JANUARY 2013 JICAS WORLD 76 JICAS WORLD JANUARY 2013

    The idea originated in the 1970s in Japans Oita Prefecturewhich was economically depressed at the time by exploitingthe idea that individual communities concentrate on both theparticular skills of local people and unique natural resources

    or materials to make distinctive and original products whichthey could then market pr ofitably.

    JICA has promoted OVOPin African, Middle Eastern and

    Asian countries, and from nextyear in Armenia, as well as thebeautiful Issyk-Kul region of

    northeastern Kyrgyzstan. Japan-

    ese project chief ad-visor and project co-ordinator AkihisaHaraguchi and Yu-miko Yoshizawa to-

    gether with visiting experts and young Japanese volunteers(JOCV) work with government and local officials as well as in-dividual groups to develop and pr omote local products.

    They range from jam making to dye-making, felt produc-tion, soap production, clothes, shoes, toys and distinctive hats.

    munist systems into market economies.So-called Japan Centers were established across

    the region to teach new economic theori es and tech-niques to officials and businessmen (see page 14) as

    well as promoting cultural activities such as theJapanese language. Thousands of the brightest offi-cials and experts have been sent to Japan for masters

    courses, both to broaden their own individual skillsand also to strengthen overall government structures.

    A successful program in Africa, the Middle East,Asia, and soon in Armenia, called One Village OneProduct (OVOP) was introduced in economically de-prived regions of northeastern Kyrgyzstan (see above).The project aims to take advantage of both the specialskills of peoples in different regi ons and local naturalresources to produce specialized items which have

    been successfully exported to markets as far away asJapan. Rural communities for the first time have

    been able to earn salaries for their families.In Samarkand, the production of a special type of

    paper, which was once considered the most advancedin the world, has been revived (see page 12), as hasthe revitalization of the ancient silk industry itselfand the provision of sound and light equipment forUzbekistans famed Bolshoi theatre, which Japanese

    Sixty-three-year-old Guljamal Namazovais a smiling, portly figure as she potters around hermodest farmhome in the village of Bulan Sogottu in northeastKyrgyzstan, but her placid demeanor masks an adventuroushistory.

    I was a brilliant studentalways A levels, she tells a recentvisitor modestly. So much so that she studied nuclear physicsfor many years and then became a teacher in the old SovietUnion. She was the political leader of her local authority for20 years.

    Her personal life was no less dramatic. She was literallykidnapped from her home and subsequently forced to marryher abductor to whom she is still marriedhappily40 yearslater. Though officially outlawed, such kidnappings continueeven today.

    Thats life, she shrugsnonchalantly as she indulgesher latest passionmakingpotted jams from local rose

    (continuedfrom page 5)

    bushes and other shrubstogether with a few

    neighboring women as grandchildren skitter noisily aroundthe room.

    Guljamal makes condiments to supplement a modest na-tional pension. Life has been tough economically for many ofKyrgyzstans 5.5 million population since the breakup of theSoviet Union in 1992 but a Japanese concept known as One

    Village One Project (OVOP) is designed to help local peoplelike Guljamal by promoting small business ventures.

    The Japanese have helped strengthen the local OVOP associ-ation, a branding committee which oversees quality controland develops and markets new products.

    In addition to selling via outlets i n the local town of Karakoland the capital, Bishkek, producers recently won their biggestever order for 25,000 items from one of Japans largest retailers,

    Muji.It is a valuable learning experience for everyone.

    In Tokyo, a huge city, I often felt alone, says 28-year-old volunteer Sayaka Shimada, who workedfor Mitsubishi before coming to Kyrgyzstan and

    lives with Guljamal Namazova, whom she callsmother. She speaks Kyrgyz fluently and althoughlife is tough she loves it here. I am never alone. Iam always with friends, she said.

    There is no running water in our village, Tasma.The toilet is outside in temperatures which oftenreach minus 20, says another volunteer, 27-year-

    old Mai Sasaki. Life is very slow. I love it.A local colleague and mother of three children, Esenbaeva

    Anarkul said, We go to school. We leave school. We get mar-ried. We have children. There is 80% unemployment here.But in this group we can socialize. We get bigger lives andmore interests. And we have learned how to earn money andspend it on our kids and on ourselves.

    Guljamal Namazova has the last word: Nuclear physicswas perhaps a destructive force in some ways, radioactive fall-out, etc. But j am is beautiful.

    prisoners of war helped construct after World WarII.

    Because Armenia is particularly susceptible tonatural disaster, as is Japan, experts helped to for-

    mulate a seismic risk management plan to dealwith future emergencies. Along the Tajik-Afghanborder, training programs were conducted to pre-vent landslides, to provide food security for poor

    olunteernd

    motheram making

    Rusting infrastructurealong the Silk Road

    Wool dye making

    SellingOVOP articles

    Village women make feltproducts Volunteer (left) and

    villagers soap making

    (Continuedon page 12)

    TheewSilkRoad

    FromNuclear Physics to Jam Making

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    JANUARY 2013 JICAS WORLD 98 JICAS WORLD JANUARY 2013

    Your predecessor, Mrs.Sadako Ogata, described2011, a period which includedthe Great East Japan Earth-quake and tsunami, with

    Japanese understatement, asa very trying year. How would you describe 2012?There were tremendous setbacks in 2011 so in that context

    we can talk during this period about recovery, reconstruction,renewal and rededication to both our aims and our ideals. It

    was also a period of transition. On a global scale there werevarious leadership changes and of course also within Japanand JICA itself. Within that context I would like to build onthe achievements of Mrs. Ogata adding new ideas and initia-tives wherever appropriate.

    In one of your first interviews after taking officeyou called for more innovative ideas, expandingthe application of scientific research and harnessingJICAs cumulative knowledge.

    Yes. This has been a major learning curve for me, but alreadyI see a lot of clues from the past, innovative ideas which can

    be applied to our future operations

    After becoming president of JICA in April 2012,Akihiko Tanaka

    considers his first period in office as one of transition and renewal. Looking

    forward in the following interview, he sees the potential for an economic miracle

    in Africa, for major progress in parts of Southeast Asia such as Mindanao in the

    Philippines, and a decisive year for Afghanistan and Myanmar.

    Such as?Thirty years ago Brazil wasnot a grain exporting coun-

    try. With Japanese coopera-tion it has transformed itself into one of the worlds majorproducers. We employed innovative technical cooperationtechniques. We sent Japanese experts to Brazil and receivedtrainees in Japan where they learned the latest techniques insuch areas as seed selection and reproduction. We then pro-

    vided grant aid to create a scientific laboratory to enhanceagricultural production and concessional (ODA) loans to en-courage small farmers to settle this barren land. It took morethan two decades, but look at the result. When drought hitnorth America this year, grain prices increased sharply butthen stabilized following Brazils harvest.

    What lessons does this have for the future?We tried the combination of science and research betweenJapanese and Brazilian expertstechnical cooperation,grant aid and timely ODA loans. This is what I would charac-terize as the best mix for such projects. And now JICA is ap-

    plying the same model in Mozambique where Japan andBrazil are cooperating to help that country transform its ownsavannah grasslands into an important food producing re-gion.

    What is another successful example?Thirty years ago salmon did not exist in the southern hemi-

    sphere. Then a small number of JICA experts went to Chileto work with Chilean fisheryexperts. There were a lot of ex-periments. It took twodecades. But today Chile is the

    worlds second largest salmonproducer after Norway andJapan is the major importer ofthat countrys salmon. Ourconvenience stores are full ofsalmon at a very reasonableprice. This is a great exampleof development cooperation.

    What other lessons haveyou learned during yourfirst months in office?

    You have to take a long view toreally appreciate internationalcooperation. Before, I wasaware of ODA loans, of grantaid. I knew lists of projects. But

    when I became engaged inday-to-day operations I began

    to more fully understand the importance of feasibility stud-ies, of preparatory work which can sometimes take monthsor a year. International cooperation can be dynamic but it is

    not simply a list of projects which can be transferred fromJapan to other nations. It can be a long, complicated processand perhaps political scientists and other experts workingonly in universities sometimes do not grasp this reality.

    So international development is more complexthan perhaps you first imagined looking fromthe outside in?

    Yes. There are many steps to complete and follow up a suc-cessful project. There are many potential pitfalls. It is very dy-namic and complex.

    You have already mentioned JICAs cooperationwith Brazil. There are other emerging donorssuch as China and India. How is this developmentchanging the world of international developmentand Japans role in it?The world needs to expand its efforts in the field of interna-

    tional cooperation and the emergence of new donors pro-vides us with many more opportunities. Some of the targetsof the U.N. 2015 Millennium Development Goals (on povertyreduction, gender equality, better health, education and jobsetc.) have been realized but others have not and so the moreproviders we have the better. They are very welcome.

    JICA already enjoys close cooperation with Brazil insuch areas as Africa. Do you foresee similar coopera-tion with China and other emerging countries?Perhaps not in the immediate months ahead but the JICAResearch Institute has made efforts to increase its coopera-tion with the Chinese Academy of International Trade andEconomic Cooperation (CAITEC) so that is a good start and

    we would like to continue with this research and related ac-tivities. We also have close relationships and joint activities

    with Korea and Thailand. I hope that our staff in variouscountries in the world will increase their contacts with theircounterparts from such emerging partners.

    Various academics and experts have questionedthe whole concept of development cooperationas misguided or even destructive. What is yourreaction?There are some negative or deficient areas of internationaldevelopment, of course, but there are many areas which haveproduced positive results and I have already mentioned sev-eral. Certainly some of the criticisms leveled at JICA are justi-fied, but even they are useful to help us improve the quality ofour own projects.

    Traditional donors often approach developmentcooperation in different ways. How would you rateJapans approach since the end of World War II?

    Overall, we have done the right thing. Initially Japan concen-trated on East Asia which then achieved the greatest povertyreduction of any area and the World Bank described the im-provement as a miracle. I have already mentioned Brazil andChile. So we have been on the right track, but we probablyneed more research-based cooperation and more projectevaluation, particularly long-term evaluation. We need totransform tacit knowledge into practical application.

    You mentioned the Asian miracle. Do you see asimilar potential miracle in Africa where JICA hasbeen shifting more resources in recent years?

    Yes. Yes, I do. Many African countries are showing signs ofachieving those future miracles. After making my first visit to

    Africa recently I realize there is still a lot to be done so I can-not be optimistic without reservations. But Africas growthover the last 10 years i s more than 5%. The number of con-flicts is declining and that of peaceful transitions of power is

    2 0 1 2Year in ReviewPresidential travelsin:Tanzania, Kenya,the Philippines

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    JANUARY 2013 JICAS WORLD 11

    The health of Central Asia and the Caucasus is in crisis. Ongoing conflicts, deep-rooted

    poverty, a harsh geography and the withdrawal of Soviet personnel and equipment have

    left millions of people, particularly vulnerable groups such as women and children,

    living precariously. JICA is improving regional healthcare in a series of ways, providing

    clean and reliable energy to hospitals, donating the latest medical devices, deploying

    volunteers and other experts and introducing innovative programs.

    10 JICAS WORLD JANUARY 2013

    increasing. And there are also strong prospects of increasedinvestment by the private sector in Africa.

    From Japanese private companies?No, not many yet. Other international companies are payingmore attention to Africa and I am hopeful the private sectorin Japan will also soon do the same because Africa needs im-proved transportation networks across borders, improvedport facilities and electricity supplies. But remember, even aslate as the 1970s East Asia was widely regarded as the area ofno hope and Africa today is in a far more hopeful situationthan that.

    Japan will host a major summit conference on Africanext year, TICAD V. What are your expectations forthat meeting?TICAD meetings have been held every five years since 1993.

    We need to review what we have already accomplished and

    then decide what we need to do now, recognizing that therole of the private sector is becoming more and more impor-tant and we need to combine this with overall cooperation.TICAD will also be held at a time when the internationalcommunity is also considering the way forward following thecompletion of the 2015 MDGs process so we need to ensurethat TICAD activities are consistent and complementary tooverall international goals.

    JICA has been expanding its activities in Africa forseveral years now. Will this trend continue?I think so. But this depends on (JICAs) budget and I amlooking forward to an expansion of Japans ODA (Official De-

    velopment Assistance) as a whole, since ODA, I believe, isone of the most important and strategic diplomatic tools forJapan.

    The 2011 earthquake-tsunami was one of the mostmomentous events in Japans modern history andthe reverberations were felt throughout societyincluding JICAs development activities. But is aclearer picture now emerging about Japans viewson such issues as ODA?There is now a general appreciation among the public andpoliticians of the role ODA played in helping to create the con-ditions where many countries around the world were willingto help Japan in its hour of need. So the impact of March 11

    was, in a way, a positive development for international coop-eration. We now need to re-articulate and strengthen thisconcept of international cooperation and recognize that it

    works both ways between donors and emerging partners.

    Going forward, what are the challenges in 2013?Africa will be very important. We need to have a major pushthere in 2013 to solidify the progress already made and thefuture potential. JICA is going to do a lot to take more posi-tive measures in Africa.

    Where else?Myanmar is going to be very important. Since that country

    began to end its international isolation JICA has been explor-ing areas for increased cooperation and in 2013 we will beginactual projects. We are always under pressure to begin opera-tions but we need to do our homework and we need to dothings effectively. Among other things we are planning to

    open a Japan Center in May there, which will be useful forlocal businessmen to develop their economic potential.

    What is the situation in Afghanistan?2013 will be very critical. International Security Assistanceforces will withdraw from the country in 2014 when presi-dential elections will also be held. Next year will indicate

    whether overall conditions will become positive or more diffi-cult. Japan has already committed $3 billion in assistance be-tween 2012-15. JICA is involved in various projects,particularly around the capital, Kabul, but we would like toexpand our area of activities to other regions. It all dependson conditions on the ground.

    Your first overseas visit earlier this year was toMindanao, the troubled area in the Philippines wherethe government has been battling local Muslim rebelsfor decades. The two sides recently signed a frame-

    work for a peace agreement. What does this mean forJICA activities there?We are already very active in Mindanao. During my visit Isaid we were willing to expand our activities once an agree-ment was reached so I think we are going to work to help re-alize my statement. This may take various forms but if thepeace solidifies we could think of much larger scale activitiesto connect southern Philippines to northern Indonesia andMalaysia and other countries in the region. We could con-ceive of a project to improve the maritime connectivity ofSoutheast Asia in a similar way that countries of the Mekongregion are forging closer land ties.

    So this is an area that could encompass countrieslike the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and evenAustralia and the Pacific?

    Yes. It is an exciting prospect. Until now so-called maritimeareas such as the southern Philippine islands have been dis-advantaged, disconnected to the rest of the region. But wecould do lots of projects there to overcome this isolation.

    There were several major conferences during theyear: Rio + 20 on sustainable development, Cop 11on biodiversity and the IMF/World Bank annualmeetings. What did they accomplish?Participating countries and organizations reinforced theircommitment to international cooperation and a common vi-

    sion. At Rio + 20 a commitment to a so-called green econ-omy was a major advance for sustainable development andpoverty reduction. We held more than 100 meetings at theIMF/WB gathering where, in view of the forthcomingTICAD conference on Africa, infrastructure development in-cluding the greater participation of the private sector was aparticularly important area of discussions.

    Food security is again an important challenge, partic-ularly for the worlds bottom one billion people.Food shortages are again in the headlines but it is an issue weare in a position to tackle effectively. I mentioned earlier thecerrado project in Brazil as one way to meet such a challengeand we are undertaking a similar project with Brazil in the

    African state of Mozambique. Climate change is a constantchallenge but we hope this new project can take into accountsuch problems, potential natural disasters and the vagaries oflocal labor markets to develop a sustainable food project.

    It isthe largesthospital in theTajikistan capital ofDushanbe, but electricity issometimes sporadic

    particularly in the bitterly-cold wintermonths when temperatures canplunge many degrees below

    freezing. JICA donated a solarsystem in the hospital grounds to

    ensure both clean and regularelectricity to help the 30,000

    patients annually and nearly 2,000medical staff there. Solar panels

    provide clean and reliable energy.

    Volunteernurse Mari Fujii is

    also well known for hersmile and warm bedsidemanner at Tashkentschildrens hospital,which treats tens ofthousands of childreneach year. I wanted tounderstand how otherhealth systems worked,says the 39-year-old

    pediatric nurse. I amnot sure I will be a betternurse when I return toJapan, but I will certainlybe a better person fromwhat I have learned here.

    2012Year in Review

    The major childrens hospital in the Kyrgyzcapital of Bishkek cares for 100,000 patients a year,including 4,000 newly-born. The agency has providedan array of equipment since the center opened in 1996and for nearly 1 years Nobuhiro Miyazaki,accompanied by an ever-present smile, has beengiving physiotherapy to an unending line of patients.

    Whengynecologist SharbonuSulaimonva visits the Tajikistanvillage of Lenin near the

    Afghan border her clinic has no running water, intermittent electricity, few drugs and almostno equipment to help provide healthcare for the 13,000 inhabitants. Deputy team leader KeikoMuramatsu is helping to improve maternal and child care in the remote region by providingsome basic equipment and training but, crucially, by also listening carefully to local concernsand traditions and selectinga cadre of leaders,particularly influentialpeople such asgrandmothers, to win theconfidence and support ofoften superstitious locals.

    TheNewSilk

    Road

    PromotingHealthAlong the SilkRoad

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    written word.When the Chinese invaded Central Asia in 751 they were

    eventually routed, but thousands of Chinese prisoners thenhelped to develop a new and unique brand of cheaper papersympathetic to the pen which dominated Western and Easternmarkets for centuries.

    However, modern techniques made even this paper expen-sive and obsolete and it eventually disappeared some 200 yearsago.

    Thanks to international organizations such as UNESCOand the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)Samarkand paper manufacture is now making a modestcomeback.

    Kanazashi, who together with his wife Hiroko Kanazashihas been encouraging the resurrection of ancient yarns, dyesand paper around the world from their studio in the Japanesecity of Minamata, is JICAs project manager in Samarkand.

    A beautiful waterwheel house has been built, ancient se-crets uncovered, local villagers hired and trained and market-

    ing strategy established, according to Kanazashi. The paper isused in such products as traditional paper products, embroi-dery, bags, backing for beautiful miniature paintings and eventhe labels for wines exported to Japan.

    So what is the difference between Samarkand paper andother good quality paper?

    According to company director Zarif Muhtorov, Its surfaceis extremely smooth, like silk, thanks to a special polishingprocess with stones and shells. Its color is luminous but ex-tremely restful to the eyes. It is tough and durable and you can

    write on both sides of the paper. This paper can last for severalmillenniums and never fade. Even rats and mice cannot de-stroy this paper.

    Praise indeed.

    JANUARY 2013 JICAS WORLD 1312 JICAS WORLD JANUARY 2013

    paper developed in the fabled Central Asian city of Samarkandplayed a key role in not only paper development but also thespread of education. The city and its industry was, for a time,the key crossroads center in paper d evelopment between East-ern and Western cultures.

    Early Eastern paper produced in China or Japan could onlyabsorb brush strokes but not t he pen, Kanazashi said. Westernpaper at the time was mainly papyrus and parchment, both fartoo expensive to promote the widespread di ssemination of the

    The worlds best paper is manufactured in Samarkand,Zahiriddin Babur, the founder of the Moghul Empire,proclaimed.

    Fifteenth-century Iranian calligrapher Sultan Ali Meshedialso noted:

    How fine is the Samarkand paperIf you are a wise man, dont reject it.Writing on this paper is even and beautiful.

    Modern-day Japanese expert Junpei Kanazashi said the

    farmers and strengthen extension services and im-prove services and access to particularly remoteareas.

    Specialized medical equipment, solar systems toprovide clean and regular electricity supplies, doctors,nurses, experts and volunteers were provided to hos-pitals and clinics (see page 11). Training programs

    were held to help the disabled, maternal and child

    care and to combat virulent diseases.

    Roads, Power, RailroadsIn Armenia, JICA helped to rehabilitate

    the countrys electrical transmission and distributionsystem and boosted supply capacity with a new com-

    bined cycle co-generation power plant. In neighbor-ing Georgia the agency rehabilitated existing hydro-electric power stations and introduced a clean energysolar system. It converted one oil burning thermalplant in Azerbaijan into a gas combined-power plantand expanded and updated a second power plant atShimal.

    In those Caucasian countries JICA helped improveand maintain a major highway system in Georgiaand increased rural access roads to market centersand improved city water supply and sewage systemsin Azerbaijan.

    (Continuedon page 14)

    Countries belonging to the Central Asia RegionalEconomic Cooperation (CAREC) group called a 2,715kilometer road corridor through Kazakhstan themost important route within the entire Central Asianregion linking Russia, China and Afghanistan andJICA provided a loan of 6,361 million yen for an on-going project including road widening, bypasses,highway rehabilitation and related poverty reduction

    and social service programs. It also provided sub-stantial funding for earlier bridge and road rehabili-tation programs.

    The largest project in Tajikistan, begun in 2007and still underway, is a $US 90 million 4-phase grantaid project for upgrading parts of a highway knownas International Trunk Road No. 11 or part of the

    Asian Highway, which will allow the landlocked stateeasier access for its imports-exports to ocean ports

    via neighboring Afghanistan.An equally vital road artery in Kyrgyzstan

    links the northern capital of Bishkek with thecountrys second largest city, Osh, in the south.

    With JICAs help, This i s now the most impor-tant road in the whole country, according toZhanibek Aliyazov of the Ministry of Transportand Communications. It is the only main road

    between north and sout h; it now carr ies 95% of

    (continuedfrom page 7)

    Rediscovering theWorlds Most Beautiful PaperTheewSilk

    Road

    Irrigation system inUzbekistan (left)

    Boreholes in Tajikistanvillage

    Water is aparticularlycontentious

    issue in a regionwhere some

    areas enjoy an

    overabundanceand others are

    reduced tovirtual desert.

    Japanese expert and localpaper expert

    Centuries-old techniquesare used to prepareSamarkand paper

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    JANUARY 2013 JICAS WORLD 15

    When the Soviet Union collapsedsome of its formersatellite countries and closest allies faced a major eco-nomic dilemma: how to transform rigid, communist-

    style systems to market-based economies.In the intervening two decades Japan has encouraged them

    in several ways, sending promising executives and experts to

    Japan for specialized training and opening so-called JapanCenters in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in Centr al

    Asia and other Asian countries.The centers run by Japanese staff, experts and counterpar ts

    operate on several levels: as schools of business excellencenurturing a whole new class of skilled personnel and as

    regional traffic and will help link us with China,Afghanistan and Tajikistan. It is also helping tointegrate the country cult urally.

    The construction of a series of bridges has helpedprovide access for tens of thousands of weekly shop-

    pers from Kyrgyzstan and surrounding countries tothe largest market in Central Asia, a veritable city ofsteel containers stacked two atop each other and sell-ing every conceivable item.

    Kazakhstan, a country of 16 million people, alsonamed a new capital, Astana, in 1997 and as its pop-ulation rises from 300,000 to an expected one millionin a few years time, JICA has helped build a passengerterminal and other facilities for a new internationalairport and other city programs includi ng new waterand sewage facilities. JICA modernized several localairports in Uzbekistan and upgraded Manas airportin the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek.

    During the Soviet era railroads were often thebackbone of the areas transportation network. TheGaragum desert dominates central Turkmenistan,hampering east-west traffic and causing widespreadeconomic bottlenecks and links to nearby Uzbekistan

    14 JICAS WORLD JANUARY 2013

    The JapanInternationalCooperation Agency(JICA) is the worldslargest bilateraldevelopment organ-ization, operating insome 150 countries tohelp some of theglobes mostvulnerable people.

    Publisher:Noriko Suzuki

    Office of Media andPublic Relations

    Editor:Raymond Wilkinson

    Art Director:Vincent WinterAssociates

    JICAS WORLDis published byJICANibancho Center Bldg5-25, Niban-choChiyoda-ku

    Tokyo 102-8012 JAPAN

    TELEPHONE:+81-3-5226-6660-3FAX: +81-3-5226-6396INTERNET:http://www.jica.go.jp

    Comments: [email protected]

    Cover : Fabled Samarkandon the Silk Road

    s

    JICAWO

    RLD

    and Iran, but in a six-year period JICA helped tomodernize the system, laying new track and provid-ing repair facilities for rolling stock.

    In southern Uzbekistan Japan financed the con-struction of five ultra-modern railroad bridges on a

    219-kilometer stretch of new track which helps by-pass old routes through neighboring Turkmenistanand provides a vital link for supplies to Afghanistan.

    Another ongoing rail project is the electrification ofa nearby Karshi-Termez rail route. Termez is an an-cient city of learning, commerce and banking on the

    border with Afghanistan.A major JICA project in Uzbekistan was the mod-

    ernization of a thermal power plant.

    Water, WaterWater is a particularl y contentio us issue

    in a region where some areas enjoy an overabundanceand others are reduced to virtual desert. There arelongstanding governmental differences about howmuch available water should be allocated to powerproduction, how much for farming and irrigationand how much for domestic use.

    C O R R E C T I O N

    Because of technical problems the names and titles of vari-ous interviewees were mis-stated in the October 2012 issueof JICAs World Magazine in the article entitled India...On the Move, on page 6, 1st column, 6th and 7th para-graphs. These should read in full:

    Indias high-tech capital, however, is alive with tunnel-ing and soaring aerial tracks as the city rushes to comple-tion by 2013. Reiko Abe, Japans first ever female universitygraduate in tunneling, is working on the system as is YukioTezuka who, after a lifetime working on similar projectsaround the world, describes Bangalore as the most diffi-cult of all because the tunneling terrain varies from softsoil to diamond hard granite, making drilling slow andcostly.

    JICA was the catalyst for all of this, enthused Mr. N.Sivasailam, Managing Director of the Bangalore Metro RailCorporation, to a visitor recently.

    outposts of Japanese culture,offering Japanese languagecourses, social events suchas the tea ceremony andnurturing closer ties betweendifferent communities.

    Some 80,000 personsvisit the Japan Center in theUzbek capital of Tashkentand a branch office in

    Bukhara each year, accord-ing to co-director HidetakaNishiwaki, and one specialfeature is a computer train-ing course for deaf and hear-ing impaired people.

    Tadao Iguchi has spentthree years as director ofthe center in the Kyrgyz cap-ital of Bishkek where busi-ness and Japanese languagecourses attract several hun-

    dred people per year.Aidai E. Kurmanova, currently an acting state sec-

    retary in the Kyrgyz government, was one of the firstofficials to attend advanced JDS training courses forkey personnel when she began a two-year studycourse at the International University of Japan in

    2007. Each year outstanding officials aged between27-39 are sent to Japan to study for masters degr ees.

    The development of our human resources is un-doubtedly the most important contribution, the JDSFellow said emphatically in her office recently. Mystudies have added a totally new dimension to my

    work. My horizons are broader and broader. And Ican pass on the knowledge I absorbed to other col-leagues here at home.

    Her feelings were reciprocated by participantsfrom surrounding countries. We are living in a world

    without borders, of growing globalization, saidFarukh Soliev from the Ministry of Economic De-velopment and Trade in Tajikistan. I have developednew networks of business associates around the worldand have been able to study subjects I had no accessto before.

    In Uzbekistan some of the other more than 230JDS Fellows there, experts in such areas as banking,teaching, economic research, business managementand rural restructuring, said the program was criticalin creating a critical mass of professionals in thegovernment sector. It not only benefitted the indi-

    vidual but the entire government structure itself.Japan has few natural resources, Merganov

    Bakhodir, director of the legal department of theCentral Bank said. But the country has succeeded.This has inspired me and all of my colleagues. We

    want to provide the same dedication and applicationnow here in Uzbekistan.

    In Uzbekistan, the largest regional nation, Vokhid-jon Ahmadjonov of the Ministry of Agriculture andWater Resources said his country needs 67 milliardcubic meters of water annually but receives only 52milliard cubic meters.

    Perhaps we can never fully close the gap, he saidin a recent int erview, but the only realistic solutionis to try to save water and make better use of ourcurrent resources by, among other things, switchingfrom water heavy crops such as cotton to grains. Inone 3 year project, JICA is training staff of someof the countrys 1,500 water users associations(WUAs) in management techniques, repairing andmaintaining irrigation facilities and installing effi-cient drip irrigation whenever feasible.

    In Tajikistans rural Hamadoni district, alreadyancient water systems were badly damaged in thelast two decades by civil war and poor maintenance,adversely affecting access to safe drinking water forthousands of villagers.

    Since 2010 JICA consultants and experts havehelped construct new boreholes and replace hun-dreds of kilometers of pipelines.

    Neighbors have died from drinking bad waterduring the bad times, one housewife said recentlyas she fed her goats in her front yard and workmen

    were busily laying pipes to her and neighboringhomes. Now life will be much better and we can

    drink safely again soon, she said.

    (continuedfrom page 13)

    TheewSilk

    Road

    LearningNew Skills And theJapaneseTeaCeremony

    The health ofCentral Asia and

    the Caucasusis in crisis.

    JICA is helpingto improve

    regionalhealthcare in aseries of ways.

    Japan Center activities andJDS Fellows

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