Japan's Official Development Assistance White Paper 2006
Next PageMain Text > Part II ODA DISBURSEMENTS IN FISCAL YEAR 2005 > Chapter 2 Details about Japan's ODA > Section 5. Formulation and Implementation of ODA Policy > 1. System for Formulation and Implementation of ODA Policy > (3) Collaboration between Government and Implementing Agencies
(3) Collaboration between Government and Implementing Agencies
Providing assistance efficiently and effectively requires not only closer collaboration among related ministries and agencies, but also stronger collaboration between the Government and the implementing agencies that ensures coherence. This means that the roles and apportionment of responsibilities among the Government and the implementing agencies (JICA, JBIC, etc.) must be clarified to ensure a stronger connection between policy and implementation. Promoting such relationships requires stronger collaboration, including by means of personnel exchanges, not only between the Government and implementing agencies, but also among the implementing agencies themselves.
Chart II-34 Meetings Held by ODA-Related Ministries and Agencies in FY2005
Since its conversion to an independent administrative institution in 2003, JICA has adopted the "Field-oriented Approach" based on the JICA Reform Plan and has been strengthening its system of overseas offices to enable accurate and swift responses to various issues of developing countries. Moreover, in Japan, JICA has been working toward initiatives like "reform of domestic projects" and "reorganization of domestic offices" in particular, and also an integration of overseas projects and training programs as well as a reorganization of domestic offices. This series of reforms was aimed at restructuring the ODA implementation system so that it can precisely and promptly meet the needs of developing countries. JICA has set FY2006 as the "year to cap-off reform." It is advancing a variety of efforts in its role as an executing agency such as strengthening strategic aspects with a view to improving the quality of technical cooperation projects, facilitating project formation, and facilitating the materialization of training results.
JICA and JBIC have been collaborating through exchanges of information and views, and their relationship has been further strengthened by measures including the following: (1) holding consultations for formulation and preparation of projects through country-based ODA task forces so as to implement ODA more efficiently and effectively; (2) strengthening collaboration at each stage of specific projects including implementation and operational maintenance following completion; and (3) promoting personnel exchanges. Furthermore, in March 2004, MOFA and other related ministries took on building a more concrete mechanism for coordination between JICA and JBIC by such means as expanding "collaborated feasibility studies"57 and dispatching "collaborated experts" (see Chart I-20 for examples of JICA-JBIC collaborations).
Furthermore, based on the recommendations of the report from the Study Group on Overseas Economic Cooperation, the Law of the Promotion of Administrative Reform to Realize a Simple yet Efficient Government which was enacted in May 2006 stipulated that JBIC's yen loan operations will be transferred to the new JICA which is to be inaugurated in 2008. Accordingly, the JICA Law will be revised so that technical cooperation, loan aid, and grant aid will be handled by the new JICA in an integrated manner. Through this reform it is expected that an organic collaboration among these three schemes of assistance will be facilitated.