Visibility is the key for both Japan and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in their efforts to enhance mutual cooperation, according to senior officials at the world's largest policy think tank.

Japan -- as the second-largest contributor to the OECD budget after the United States -- is seeking to enhance its presence by increasing the number of Japanese in the 2,000-member OECD Secretariat from the current 73.

The Paris-based OECD, in moving to bolster its policy analysis arm through more recruitment from the private sector, has started to increase efforts to win recognition in the Japanese corporate world.

"There's a political desire to increase Japanese representation in the Secretariat," Pierre Lebleu, head of OECD human resource management, said in a recent interview.

Last week, Lebleu was in Japan as the leader of the first mission in three years dispatched by the OECD exclusively to Japan to recruit Japanese for posts in policy analysis.

"Our preoccupation for increasing the Japanese presence in the OECD is not only derived from the fact that Japan is a major contributor," Lebleu said, referring to Japan's contribution of roughly 22 percent of the OECD's $200 million budget this year.

"Since we deal with global issues, we must be able to provide collective thinking, which is enriched by sensitivities coming from all around the globe," added Pierre-Dominique Schmidt, chief of the OECD Executive Directorate.

"What we expect from Japan is an even bigger commitment and a broader commitment from the whole of Japanese society," Schmidt said, pointing to the uniformity of Japan's current participation.

"Thirty-five percent of (total) OECD recruitment in recent years is from the private sector. For Japan, this proportion is zero," Schmidt lamented. "That's something abnormal, because that means that from Japan, what we get is in a way (only) administrative input."

During the weeklong mission here, the OECD delegates interviewed 35 candidates from both the public and private sectors after screening 100 applications, mostly via e-mail. They also conducted presentations and meetings at major national universities, the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) and the Japan Federation of Employers' Association (Nikkeiren).

While expressing a favorable impression of some Japanese private-sector candidates, Lebleu said, "Our feeling after our meeting with Keidanren and Nikkeiren is that the OECD's visibility in the world of Japanese corporations is insufficient. We clearly have to improve this."

"We expect more interest from people in private companies in Japan for OECD type of work," Schmidt said, adding that the responsibility is also on management's shoulders. "Japanese employers should value at a higher level expatriate experience for Japanese employees."