The National Personnel Authority (NPA) has promoted its role as a neutral organization specializing in personnel administration working to ensure neutrality and fairness of personnel management of national public employees, while also ardently working amidst the flow of rapidly progressing internationalization for cooperation and exchange between nations in the field of personnel administration through training courses on international cooperation, dispatching of experts and invitation programs for foreign government officials. As part of this, the NPA newsletter (vol. 7) is dedicated to deepening overseas understanding of NPA activities by introducing the latest trends in personnel administration in Japan and NPA activities geared toward international cooperation, and is also aimed at promoting and continuing friendly relations with readers.
   The first section touches upon some topics of interest both in Japan and other countries from among various measures executed by the NPA during the current fiscal year. An overview of our activities is published in our annual report, available in English on the NPA’s English website. The English version of our annual report will be updated periodically. Please take the time to view it at your convenience.
   Sections two and three introduce NPA activities geared toward international cooperation as a means of exchange with the public, and offer a look at opinions and ideas that we have received from the public. Starting from the current edition, the newsletter will be in a new, interactive format, including a message to readers from the International Affairs Division. In the hopes of further deepening our exchange of information and opinion, I hope you will share with us future opinions or ideas.
   Finally I would like to introduce one example of the recently unveiled success of training courses on international cooperation conducted by the NPA. In June 2006 the Central Personnel Agency “The National Authority for Public Service” was established in Mozambique. A participant of the “Seminar on National Government Administration for Senior Officials in FY 1998” played a major role in contributing to this establishment based on the knowledge and materials he received during this training course. To see the fruits of our labor appear so vividly before our eyes is truly a joy and an honor.
   Henceforth, alongside dynamic efforts toward international cooperation and exchange, I hope to deepen mutual understanding through information exchange and networking with readers.

Sincerely yours,

Kozo Yoshida
Director General
Employee Welfare Bureau