Welcome to the JICA El Salvador Office website.
I arrived at El Salvador in January 2024 as Chief Representative of the El Salvador Office.
El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America, slightly larger than Shikoku (the smallest of Japan's four main islands), with a population of approximately 6.4 million inhabitants. In addition, there are about 3 million emigrants from El Salvador, mainly to the U.S., and their remittances account for about 25% of the Salvadoran GDP. The country has a volcanic origin and faces the Pacific Ocean, and the metropolitan area is also home to the San Salvador volcano. Therefore, the country, like Japan, is susceptible to disasters such as earthquakes, storms, and hurricanes.
On February 4, shortly after arriving in El Salvador, presidential and legislative elections were held. The current president, Mr. Nayib Bukele, won the elections with more than 80% of the votes (according to official data) in the Legislative Assembly, the New Ideas (Nuevas Ideas) Party, led by Mr. Bukele, obtained 54 of the 60 seats.
A notable achievement of the Bukele government's first presidential term was the significant improvement in security, as El Salvador had long suffered from historically unstable internal politics and security problems, with a series of terrorist attacks and military coups in the 1970s, the outbreak of civil war in 1979, and increasing and socially disadvantageous gang activity following the 1992 Peace Agreement. JICA provided cooperation to strengthen community police activities between 2015 and 2020. ('Project to Strengthen the Implementation of the New Police Model Based on Community Police Activities’, February 2015 – February 2020 Protecting People's Livelihoods based on Trust between Citizens and Police - Police and Locals Working Together to Create Safe and Secure Communities ｜ News & Media - JICA)
Before the Bukele government took office, the number of homicides per 100,000 inhabitants was 53.3 in 2018 and has dropped significantly in just five years to 7.8 in 2023. If you ask the locals, they all say it is completely different than before. Although the methods used to improve security are controversial, it is worth to point out that one of the main obstacles to the country's development has been improved.
The biggest challenge for the Bukele government's second presidential term, which begins in June 2024, is to boost economic growth. With a high trade deficit, the country needs to increase its competitiveness, attract foreign investment, and create jobs. This will require strengthening the knowledge and skills of the population, improving infrastructure, enhancing the investment environment, and supporting entrepreneurs, including small and microenterprises. In addition, it is necessary to be prepared for sudden disasters such as earthquakes and future pandemics like COVID - 19.
JICA El Salvador provides the following cooperation to support these needs. Please take a look at our website.
Information of Cooperation policy, Annual Report, El Salvador Country Analysis, etc. can be found here.
El Salvador is now at an important turning point. At JICA, we are working to identify appropriate ways to support this country so that no one is left behind and all Salvadorean can benefit from development. We are committed to make this happens.
El Salvador Office
Chief Representative
Hiromi Nai
scroll