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President Asakawa (right) and President Kitaoka

On August 20, JICA President KITAOKA Shinichi held talks with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) President ASAKAWA Masatsugu at JICA headquarters.

The two discussed the worrying security situation in Afghanistan and Myanmar, and shared their intention to pay particular attention to the socio-economic situation of the most vulnerable people.

President Asakawa expressed his appreciation for JICA's collaboration with ADB's COVID-19 Pandemic Response Option (CPROs) and shared ADB's experience with the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX). President Kitaoka emphasized the importance of strengthening health systems and improving living environments through JICA’s Initiative for Global Health and Medicine, which includes plans to expand or build 100 hospitals around the world.

Based on the memorandums of understanding signed between the two organizations, one on health (2017) and another on quality infrastructure (2015), they exchanged views on strengthening cooperation in the health sector and further promoting quality infrastructure investment through sovereign concessional loans and private-sector investment and finance.

Both sides also exchanged views on strengthening each organization's climate change countermeasures prior to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference Meeting (COP26) scheduled to take place this November in Glasgow, in the United Kingdom.

JICA will continue to work with its domestic and international partners to minimize the damage caused by the spread of coronavirus infection and restore the economy of developing countries by making its utmost efforts to ensure the safety of domestic and international stakeholders during the COVID-19 crisis.