Sister-City exchange activities have been a central aspect of local-government-level exchange. However, in recent years the focus of these relationships has shifted from ‘exchange’ to ‘cooperation’. As the central coordinating body of their communities, local governments have a wealth of experience they can use to coordinate activities to achieve these goals. The International Cooperation and Economic Relations Division assists local governments in these very activities by implementing the following programmes.

Local Government Officials Training Program (LGOTP) in Japan     Through the LGOTP, local government officials from overseas are hosted by local authorities in Japan for training. Participants obtain know-how and technical skills from their hosts and cooperate in projects to promote local internationalisation.     Local Authorities International Cooperation Promotion Projects ("Model Projects")     CLAIR refers to inventive and innovative international cooperation activities run by Japanese local governments as "Model Projects". We offer financial support for specified activities as well as an opportunity to publicise the results of the projects and thus promote future international cooperation activities.     Citizens' International Plaza     The Plaza seeks to promote international cooperation using distinctive regional characteristics and to encourage cooperation between internationally-active NGOs and local authorities.     Other International Cooperation Projects     Local Authorities International Cooperation Specialist Dispatch Project

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