Home
News & Features
News
FY2020
Director General for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mr. Satoshi Yoshida participated in the Inter-American Dialogue's Online Seminar "Leveraging Japan-Latin America and Caribbean Relations Post COVID-19"

News

December 2, 2020

Director General for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mr. Satoshi Yoshida participated in the Inter-American Dialogue's Online Seminar "Leveraging Japan-Latin America and Caribbean Relations Post COVID-19"

Overview

Title: Leveraging Japan-Latin America and Caribbean Relations Post-COVID-19
Date: December 2, 2020
Sponsors: Inter-American Dialogue
Location: USA (Zoom)

Moderators and panelists

- Ms. Margaret Myers, Director, Asia and Latin America Program, Inter-American Dialogue
- Mr. Satoshi Yoshida, Director General, Latin America and Caribbean Department, JICA
- Mr. Martin Rama, Chief Economist, World Bank Latin America and the Caribbean
- Ms. Susan Hubbard, Fellow, Japan Center for International Exchange
- Mr. Tetsuro Narita, Senior Specialist, IDB Lab

Primary objectives and outcomes

The COVID-19 pandemic has spread in the Latin American and Caribbean region, and since March 2020, governments have announced national emergencies, locked down cities, and closed their borders. The region's average GDP growth rate was expected to contract by 8.1% in 2020 (IMF, October 2020), and its robust recovery depends on many factors。Mr. Satoshi Yoshida, JICA's Director General for Latin America and the Caribbean was invited by the Inter-American Dialogue to discuss amongst experts on the region's challenges and what role JICA can play.

Content of the discussions

JICA's Director General for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mr. Satoshi Yoshida expressed concern that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many people in the region did not have access to basic public services such as quality health care nor water and sanitation services. Youth unemployment, lack of access to internet in rural areas are also amongst the many issues that need attention as the pandemic puts the region at risk of further deepening inequalities. Mr. Yoshida expressed that Japan and JICA cannot solves these issues alone with the region, and that its partnership with international organizations like the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and World Bank and other public and private partners will be evermore important.

JICA is committed to supporting the LAC region in its socio-economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic under the principle of promoting Human Security.

The event video and summary (by the Inter-American Dialogue) can be accessed from the links below. The event summary includes that of another event by the Inter-American Dialogue, "¿Qué papel puede tener Japón en la recuperación post-Covid-19 de América Latina?" ("What role can Japan have in LAC's COVID-19 recovery?").