JICA President Tanaka Visited Brazil and Paraguay

JICA President Tanaka Akihiko visited the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Republic of Paraguay from June 10 to 22. In Brazil, he participated in events related to the Nikkei (people of Japanese descent), who are currently celebrating the 115th anniversary of Japanese immigration into Brazil and exchanged opinions with Nikkei organizations. He also met with Vice-President Geraldo Jose Alckmin Filho and other government officials; participated in a seminar on private sector investment finance; gave lectures both at the JICA Chair (JICA Program for Japanese Studies) that is being held at the University of São Paulo and at the Brazilian Foreign Service Training School; and visited an agroforestry project. In Paraguay, he met with the current and incoming presidents and other key government officials, exchanged views with Nikkei organizations, and attended a signing ceremony of the record of discussions on the country’s space development project. He also inspected JICA projects in both countries.

1. Federative Republic of Brazil
President Tanaka spoke at a special session of the National Congress for Japanese immigration to Brazil in the capital, Brasilia, and the ceremony for the 115th anniversary of Japanese immigration, organized by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In both speeches, he praised highly the activities of the Nikkei organizations in Brazil and expressed JICA’s hope for the continued strengthening of Japan-Brazil relations through human resource development (via volunteer and training programs), academic interactions such as with the Fujita-Ninomiya Chair (JICA Chair), and cooperation on development issues such as climate change, food security, and disaster risk reduction. In addition, he held discussions with Nikkei organizations in Sao Paulo, Belém, and Tomé-Açu, and in the latter, visited a successful sustainable agroforestry farm established by a Nikkei individual, along with a juice factory for processing fruit that was built and expanded with a JICA grant.

In a subsequent meeting between Vice-President Alckmin and President Tanaka, the pair affirmed the importance of the two countries partnering to address global issues such as climate change countermeasures, environmental conservation, and food security. Then, with Minister of Agriculture Carlos Henrique Baqueta Fávaro, President Tanaka exchanged views on sustainable agriculture without deforestation, and in Belém, Pará, where the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is scheduled to be held in 2025, he discussed with the governor the promotion of sustainable agroforestry in preparation for COP30.

President Tanaka also gave a special lecture for the JICA Chair at the University of Sao Paulo under the theme of "International Relations in Complex Crises: Japan's Perspective," and a lecture at a diplomatic academy of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (known as "Rio Branco Institute"), each of which being attended by about 60 people.

He also spoke at the "Brazil Private Sector Investment Finance Seminar," and discussed JICA’s continued support for projects—including two new investment projects—that contribute to solving social issues in Brazil, which has the largest track record of JICA's Private Sector Investment Finance around the world. The speech was covered by numerous media outlets. A tree planting ceremony was also held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) as well as the long partnership between Embrapa and JICA, which has provided technical cooperation in the agricultural sector, including in the development of the Cerrado, for many years.

2. Republic of Paraguay
Following this, President Tanaka visited Paraguay and met with current President Mario Abdo Benítez and President-elect Santiago Peña, who is scheduled to take office in August, in the Paraguayan capital of Asunción. They reviewed past cooperation such as that in the fields of agricultural promotion, infrastructure development, and human resource development, and discussed space development projects, Japanese startup companies entering the Central and South American region, future cooperation in the field of hydrogen energy derived from hydroelectric power generation taking advantage of abundant water resources, and the strengthening of relations with the Nikkei community. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also presented President Tanaka with the Condecoración de la Orden Nacional del Mérito en el grado de “Gran Cruz Extraordinaria” (National Order of Merit “Grand Cross of the Order”) in recognition of JICA's achievements in Paraguay.

In the field of space development, President Tanaka attended the signing of the record of discussions for the newly launched "Project for the Management of Space Programs Applied to Socioeconomic Development," a technical cooperation project, and exchanged views with the President of the Paraguayan Space Agency and young staff members. Many expressed high expectations for Japan's advanced technological capabilities such as in satellite development and satellite image processing.

In Ciudad del Este City, Yguazu City, and the capital, Asunción, President Tanaka exchanged views and ideas with Nikkei organizations. In Ciudad del Este City, he made a visit to Hagihara Industries Inc., which has expanded from Japan to Paraguay. The company established a South American manufacturing base in Paraguay in 2022 as a result of its participation in a private-sector study mission sent by JICA to Latin American countries in 2018, and views were shared on the company's strategy for entering the South American market, with Paraguay as a base. In Yguazu City, President Tanaka visited the potential site for a "road station" (Michi-no-eki), which is to be established mainly by former participants of a JICA training program for Nikkei communities.

Finally, President Tanaka visited a site at which experts and Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) are working on ongoing JICA cooperation in the field of social-participation promotion for persons with disabilities.