The President's Activities

JICA President Shinichi Kitaoka discusses at Chatham House

JICA President Shinichi Kitaoka visited the United Kingdom on Jan. 21-24. He held talks with ODA officials and experts of the British government, and at a seminar sponsored by Chatham House, a British think tank, he lectured on the role of Japanese ODA in the Indo-Pacific region.

Nick Dyer, Interim Permanent Secretary at the Department for International Development (DFID),left, and JICA President Shinichi Kitaoka right

He held talks on Jan. 22 with Nick Dyer, Interim Permanent Secretary at the Department for International Development (DFID). Mr. Kitaoka and Mr. Dyer discussed the importance of creating common standards for international cooperation as the role of emerging donors grows, the need for partnerships with the private sector, and the possibilities of collaboration by their respective agencies in fields including nutrition and support for persons with disabilities. Mr. Kitaoka also met with Malcolm Chalmers, Deputy Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and Dana Allin, Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), with whom he discussed the relationship between development and security.

Mr. Kitaoka lectured at a seminar sponsored by Chatham House on Jan. 23, on the assistance JICA is implementing in the Indo-pacific region. In his lecture, while touching on the Japanese government's Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy, he showed the contributions JICA has made to the development of the region by introducing the following specific examples of JICA's activities there: social development through infrastructure improvement, including Delhi Metro in India; maritime safety centered on Southeast Asia; the Initiative for Food and Nutrition Security in Africa (IFNA); peace building and response to refugee crises in places such as Mindanao, the Philippines, and Myanmar; and post-disaster recovery and reconstruction assistance and disaster risk reduction in places such as Nepal.

The British experts who participated asked questions about JICA's relationship with the United States, India, China and other countries, as well as about JICA's contribution in South Sudan. "The Japanese contribution to the development of the international community that is open is extremely significant," one said, as part of an overall lively discussion. Later, Mr. Kitaoka met with Chatham House Deputy Director Adam Ward, with whom he discussed dealing with uncertainty in international relations as symbolized by the UK leaving the European Union, relations with Russia and China and the role of Japanese ODA, and the differences between British and JICA assistance.