President Kitaoka talks with President Tanaka (former JICA president) of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)

On May 28, JICA President KITAOKA Shinichi had an online discussion with TANAKA Akihiko, president of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Japan. This dialogue was conducted as a part of a research project titled "International Cooperation in the Post-Corona World" launched by JICA, designed to fully examine the future of the world and international cooperation through a series of dialogues between President Kitaoka and intellectuals inside and outside Japan.

At the beginning, President Kitaoka stated that the corona crisis could be a critical turning point in world history, and we should think about what role Japan and JICA could play in the rapidly changing international environment.

President Tanaka pointed out that even though the post-corona world would be full of uncertainties, it seems sure that: (1) the world will be in a serious recession, (2) the US-China confrontation will intensify and (3) it will be difficult to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. He also pointed out that Japan, which has suffered less damage so far, has a relatively favorable position in the world, and that JICA's role will become even more important. He believes that Japan must stress the importance of close international cooperation among the countries of the world, which are all victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Kitaoka and President Tanaka then discussed the correlation between the type of political regimes and the effectiveness of countries' response to the corona crisis, as well as the future of the global economy in the post-corona world and the trend of foreign assistance by China.

The current pandemic poses an unprecedented challenge to all countries around the world, and each country is coping with the crisis by trial and error. The dialogue, conducted against this background, confirmed that sharing of transparent information, experience and lessons learned through international cooperation will surely facilitate efforts to "build back better."