DUSHANBE, November 5, 2010, Asia-Plus — Mr. Kiyoshi Kodera, Vice-President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), will arrive in Dushanbe at the beginning of the next week on a three-day visit, according to the Tajik MFA information department.
During his stay in Tajikistan, Mr. Kodera will hold talks with senior representatives from Tajikistan’s financial, educational and health sectors as well as with senior representatives of Tajik MFA, the source said.
Mr. Kiyoshi Kodera, was assigned as Vice President in Japan International Cooperation Agency in April 2010. He received bachelor in Law from the University of Tokyo and Masters of Economics from Tsukuba University.
Since 1974, he started his professional carrier by joining Ministry of Finance and took offices as Deputy Vice Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Finance and as concurrently Executive Secretary, Development Committee, World Bank and IMF, Deputy Corporate Secretary, World Bank.
A number of educational and health projects have been implemented in Tajikistan under financial support of JICA. Besides, hundreds of Tajik specialists have taken training courses in Japan with assistance from JICA.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency is an independent governmental agency that coordinates official development assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social growth in developing countries, and the promotion of international cooperation.
The current organization was formed on October 1, 2003. Its predecessor, the (Japan) International Cooperation Agency (also known as “JICA”), was a semi-governmental organization under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, formed in 1974.
As of 2005 it is led by President Sadako Ogata, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
A major component of the comprehensive overhaul of Japan”s ODA that the Japanese government (Diet) decided on in November, 2006 is the merger in 2008 between JICA and that part of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), which currently extends concessional loans to developing countries.
Since its completion on October 1, 2008, the current JICA has become one of the largest bilateral development organizations in the world with a network of 97 overseas offices and projects in more than 150 countries. The reorganized agency is also responsible for administering part of Japan”s grant aid which is currently under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and so all three major ODA components—technical cooperation, grant aid, and concessional loans—are now managed “under one roof.”
New JICA will also strengthen research and training capacity in the years ahead, acting as a kind of ODA think tank, contributing to global development strategies, strengthening collaboration with international institutions, and being better able to communicate Japan”s position on major development and aid issues.
