Message from the Resident Representative

The Republic of Costa Rica, located in Central America, is a country with approximately 5.15 million people (1/24th the population of Japan) and covers an area of about 50,000 km² (1/7th the land area of Japan).

Some may know Costa Rica for being one of the countries with the greatest biodiversity in the world, with the highest number of species of flora and fauna per unit area. National parks and nature reserves cover a quarter of the country, housing about 6.5% of all the species on the planet, especially butterflies, which account for 10%.

It is also considered an environmentally advanced country, with nearly 100% of its electricity supplied by renewable energy sources and active efforts to combat global warming, aiming to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Furthermore, Costa Rica is a democratic and peaceful state with a constitution (dating back to 1949) that establishes a national policy of a welfare state emphasizing education, without a military. Hence, two of the country's representative slogans are "environmental conservation" and "peace."

JICA's cooperation in Costa Rica began in 1974 and celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024. In June 1974, Japanese experts were sent to the University of Costa Rica to cooperate in the area of electron microscopy technology, contributing to the development of researchers, technicians, and other human resources. Research technology started in the medical field and later expanded to various research areas such as chemistry, agriculture, and mining, both in Japan and abroad, and continues to be utilized half a century later.

In recent years, JICA has continued to cooperate in the broad field of environmental conservation, including issues such as climate change, biodiversity conservation, disaster prevention, renewable energy, and waste management; as well as in the field of reducing the social gap in the country, supporting the independent living of people with disabilities and small, medium, and micro enterprises by strengthening institutional capacity and human resource development.

The dispatch of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) also began in October 1974, and to date, nearly 800 JOCV members have cooperated mainly in developing people's capacities in a wide range of fields, including environmental education, Japanese language education, sports, and more.

Some Costa Ricans who have worked alongside Japanese experts and volunteers sent to Costa Rica by JICA have had the opportunity to receive training in Japan, with more than 2,500 people benefiting from this opportunity to date. Thanks to this, they have become leaders in their respective fields, using the knowledge they have learned to contribute and disseminate in their respective areas and institutions.

Additionally, JICA has contributed to geothermal power generation, hydropower generation, water supply and sewage system development, and port construction, among many others, through long-term low-interest aid over the past half-century.

Costa Rica has already joined the ranks of upper-middle-income countries and is continuing to evolve the technologies and ways of thinking developed through cooperation with Japan over the years. Costa Rica is now a good partner for Japan in international cooperation, including training personnel from neighboring countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in cooperation with JICA.

In Costa Rica, JICA hopes to continue contributing to reducing inequality and consolidating a more inclusive society. As partner countries, facing global challenges, and above all, deepening the relationship of trust between each and every Japanese and Costa Rican constitutes a goal that seeks to strengthen the relationship of trust between the two peoples.