Message from the Chief Representative

I am FUKUDA Hajime, Chief Representative of JICA Balkan Office. In May 2021, I was appointed as Senior Representative at Balkan Office and since September 2024 I have been assigned as Chief Representative of the same office.
My first connection with the Western Balkans was in Belgrade, in 2000, when I was engaged in supporting refugees, persons who were internally displaced due to the conflict (I also visited Sarajevo and Skopje). Back then, the local people in Belgrade were struggling, living with the scars of the recent air strikes and economic sanctions, and I was impressed by their strong willingness for reconstruction, rather than lamenting over their harsh reality. About 20 years later, I returned to the Western Balkans as a member of the JICA Balkan Office, and I witnessed the accomplishment of the strong will of the people, that I felt during my visit in 2000. I was amazed by the scenes of reconstruction and remarkable development, which were beyond my imagination, and I was pleased to work together with the people of the Western Balkans in achieving further socio-economic development.
JICA Balkan Office was established here, in Belgrade, in October 2006.
Belgrade is the capital of Serbia, but it was also the capital of the former Yugoslavia. As the name "Balkans" suggests, our office oversees six countries located in the Western Balkans that were created with the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, which are not EU member states (North Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro), and Albania.
JICA's assistance to the Western Balkans has a long history, starting at the dawn of Japan's ODA, with the acceptance of the trainees from the former Yugoslavia in 1957. The Western Balkan region has shifted from the reconstruction period, immediately after the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, to the development phase. Along with this, Japanese government support has upgraded from grant aid to social and economic infrastructure development through loan aid and human resource development as a part of technical cooperation. Moreover, since 2019, we have been dispatching overseas cooperation volunteers (JOCVs) to Serbia.
The current approach of the Japanese government is the "Western Balkans Cooperation Initiative", introduced by former Prime Minister Abe in January 2018. This Initiative aims to support the economic and social reforms of the Western Balkan countries, aiming to join the EU, and to promote regional cooperation in the Western Balkans. Based on this Initiative, JICA is developing projects and activities in the following fields, as bilateral cooperation in each country, and, at the same time, is also cooperating in cross-border cooperation among countries in the region.
In the light of recent tendencies of nearshoring in Europe, the expansion and investment of foreign companies, including Japanese companies, in the Western Balkans region, has also increased. We will also promote initiatives to build meaningful partnerships between these active private sector activities and ODA, increase the effectiveness of development, and accelerate growth.
JICA will continue to consult and cooperate with the governments of Western Balkans and various actors and partners, in Japan and abroad, to strengthen the connections and relationships of trust, that have been established so far, and to contribute to the socio-economic development of Western Balkans.