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Managing Director Georgieva
President Kitaoka

On Dec. 17, JICA President KITAOKA Shinichi had an online meeting with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.

At the beginning of the meeting, President Kitaoka praised Managing Director Georgieva’s leadership that realized quick and strong support to its member countries in response to the COVID-19 crisis. President Kitaoka also stressed the importance of IMF’s role in stabilizing the global economy in current situation. He also expressed his desire of further strengthening the relationship between the two institutions in close collaboration with Managing Director Georgieva.

The two leaders then moved on to exchanging views on the importance of international cooperation particularly under the current COVID-19 crisis. In addition to the fair procurement and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines, they agreed on the importance of strengthening health system through the holistic approach of ensuring prevention, precaution and treatment by developing hospitals and human resources in health and medical sector. They also confirmed the need to strengthen the capacity of developing countries in order to deal with the global economic downturn and debt issues, which have been areas of strong concern due to the COVID-19 crisis. Furthermore, they shared views for future collaboration in climate change actions in accordance to the Japanese Government’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 and education in order to enhance resilience of the global community.

JICA will continue to contribute to the advancement of developing countries in partnership with the IMF.