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JICA-RI Director Addresses to UN and Academia on Triangular Cooperation's Effectiveness

2011.08.17

DayJuly 27, 2011(Wed) - August 03, 2011(Wed)
PlaceWashington, D.C., NewYork, US

Akio Hosono, Director of JICA-RI, spoke on the effectiveness of JICA’s triangular cooperation— a kind of support for South-South Cooperation by developed countries and/or international organizations—at international conferences during his recent visit to U.S. from July 27 to August 3.

On July 30, Hosono gave a presentation on the promotion of innovation through South-South cooperation at the session of the Society for International Development World Congress 2011, which was held with the theme of “Partnerships with the Global South”（PDF） in Washington, D.C.

There he demonstrated the effectiveness of triangular and South-South cooperation approach by sharing the past cases of JICA’s technical cooperation, as well as other initiatives led by private sector (e.g. an India-Japan automakers’ joint-venture project whose products were enthusiastically accepted in the local market for its affordability and compactness.)

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Akio Hosono at a session of the SID (second from left)

Referring to the fact that most of the R&D activities in the world are currently conducted in developed countries, Hosono stressed that collaborative activities for developing countries should be designed with the motto of “innovation for the poor” rather than “filling the technological gap”—more from the perspective of the developing countries. Hosono then concluded his presentation by emphasizing the need to consider South-South cooperation as a vehicle to creating solutions, knowledge, and technology rather than a mere transfer of resources.

In the following week, on August 2, Hosono delivered a lecture titled, ”Triangular Cooperation: Supporting Innovation and Capacity Development”（PDF） as part of the U.N’s lecture series on South-South and Triangular Cooperation at U.N. headquarters in New York. More than 140 participants—including U.N. ambassadors, U.N. institutes’ high officials, NGO representatives, and researchers— participated to hear Hosono speak.

Some asked questions over the approach of knowledge-sharing process for South-South/triangular cooperation, the roles of private sector, and the keys for fair and sustainable cooperation.

In response, Hosono said: “Say that we achieve a technological innovation that meets the need of beneficiary countries and their poor through this scheme. Then, the innovation itself becomes a breakthrough to a change, and has a potential of delivering its effect to the beneficiaries continually.” Furthermore, he referred to the Asia-Africa Business Forum, a triangular cooperation initiative involving the private sector, which now provides an excellent knowledge-sharing opportunity for the business people of both regions.

* The Society for International Development (SID) is an organization founded in the United States with the aim of sharing information and experience among aid experts. It has a worldwide network with its secretariat in Rome and chapters in more than 80 countries.