JICA Issues Fourth Japanese Government Guaranteed Dollar Bonds to Address Challenges to SDGs

June 13, 2018

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA: President Shinichi Kitaoka) issued its Global-Dollar bonds guaranteed by the Government of Japan on June 12, 2018(New York time)

An amount equal to part or all of the net proceeds will support the financing of the Eligible Projects selected under the Development Cooperation Charter, which was endorsed by the Japanese government in 2015 with the aim to proactively contribute to peace, stability and prosperity in the international community. Through each Eligible Project, JICA strives to promote socio-economic development of developing countries and address challenges to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit.

The order book reached approximately US$1 billion and was of a high quality with investors participating in favor of the use of proceeds in line with the SDGs, including Bank J. Safra Sarasin Ltd., Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance Company, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, SBI Sumishin Net Bank, Ltd., Shinkin Central Bank, State Street Global Advisors Trust Company, Taiyo Life Insurance Company and The Second Swedish National Pension Fund. The distributions by investor type and geography as well as Bond Issue details are as follows;

"With a warm support from our investors who values socially contributive nature of JICA bonds, we launched our fourth global dollar bonds to further advance our efforts to realize our mission of achieving human security and quality growth. As an organization aiming to play an important part in the global efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we hope that this transaction reaffirms our bonds as a reliable means for making impact through investment."

"JICA has been a pioneer in the efforts to realize international cooperation to match the needs of developing countries by implementing Japanese government's Official Development Assistance (ODA) over the past 60 years, and the issuance of its fourth Japanese government guaranteed dollar bonds marks another step towards realizing JICA's founding mission of achieving human security and quality growth. It is great to see this issuance was accepted highly favourably by a wide range of investors, including those who value the importance of investment in the SDG bonds, as well as a number of new investors from the U.S. and Europe, diversifying the investor base of JICA. Barclays is very proud to play its part in this significant deal leveraging our global experience and expertise."

"I would like to congratulate JICA on this very successful transaction. Being approximately 2 times oversubscribed for a $500mm deal was a strong reflection of investor enthusiasm for both the JICA credit and the SRI bond nature. The high level of demand enabled final pricing at the tight end of the guidance / successful outcome in terms of pricing, and we see significant level of SRI participation and actualization of investor diversification."

"JICA is to be congratulated on a very successful transaction, attracting the high level of demand including ESG investors. These bonds support the collective effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals through JICA's operation and contribute towards the JICA's mission of Achieving Human Security and Quality Growth. An enviable success story and a fine example as the social issuer, providing unique opportunities for impact investing. "

"A very strong opening USD Global from JICA, benefiting from first mover advantage in the 10 year maturity bucket where there is currently excellent demand from a broad mix of investors. Equally impressive was the interest from ESG/SRI based accounts given the mission statement for JICA. To be able to achieve those key objectives while pricing a 10y USD trade post a strong bout of volatility with minimal concession is truly an impressive result."