Amid increasing public scrutiny of Japan's overseas aid policies, the World Bank will increase cooperation measures to ensure that official development assistance from Tokyo is used more effectively to fight poverty, according to Yukio Yoshimura, newly appointed head of the World Bank's office in Tokyo.
"It is the responsibility of the government and agencies to verify the effectiveness of aid," said Yoshimura, who at the end of July became the first World Bank vice president to be stationed in Japan.
To create a yardstick by which the success of projects can be gauged and followup measures can be improved, the World Bank must disseminate information and increase dialogue between local authorities, the Japanese government, the private sector and nonprofit organizations, Yoshimura said.