4. Procedures Involved

    Since the Japanese government's budget is formulated and authorized on a single-year basis, all the steps involved in the provision of grant aid -from the signing of the E/N, through the signing and execution of contracts, to payment- must, in principle, be completed within the same fiscal year. However, because several years are normally required from submission of the proposed project to confirmation of the aid outcomes, there are some aspects outlined below, that warrant attention here.

(i) Candidate projects for Japanese aid are regularly reported to the Japanese government (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) by overseas Japanese embassies, which acquire the information through contact with aid-recipient institutions in the relevant country. Several project proposals may be presented at once on the occasion of visits of senior government figures.
For countries with no Japanese Embassy or consulate offices, which are yet to receive aid from Japan, or are considered to lack project planning capabilities, the Government of Japan dispatches project finding teams, which, in consultation with the said countries, identify and develop projects that are deemed necessary.

(ii) The government of the developing country screens the project proposals and submits an official request for aid for projects deemed to have high priority. Where necessary, the Government of Japan (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) collects additional data and information through the embassy, carefully examining the request to ensure that the project's aims are consistent with Japan's aid policy. If a specific project is considered appropriate for aid funding, a pre-implementation study team is dispatched by JICA to the developing country. The study team carries out a detailed investigation of conditions relevant to the project (e.g., the overall status of the country's medical care system, if the project involves a hospital), the anticipated outcomes if the aid were to be granted, whether the project scale is appropriate, and the proposed site for the project. The results of the pre-implementation study serve as important baseline data when Japan determines the ceiling level for the grant aid, and when the developing country proceeds with implementation of the project.

(iii) A formal commitment is made to provide the aid after a series of steps have been completed: Cabinet brings down its decision after interministerial consultations, agreement is reached with the developing country on the details of the E/N, and the E/N is signed. The procedures to be followed after the signing of the E/N are as described above.

Flowchart for Implementation of Grant Aid

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