(4) Collaboration with Local Governments
Japanese local governments have accumulated extensive expertise and human resources in areas such as water supply and sewerage systems, waste disposal, healthcare and maternal and child health, social welfare, agricultural extension, primary and secondary education, vocational training, environmental conservation, and public transportation, based on their experiences in providing public services to local residents. The Government of Japan engages in development cooperation that leverages the technology and know-how of such local governments by dispatching local government officials as experts and ensuring their involvement in grant projects for developing countries facing similar development challenges. For example, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, water supply facilities, which had been devastated by civil war, achieved the “Miracle of Phnom Penh”—providing potable tap water 24 hours a day—through technical cooperation by the Kitakyushu City Water and Sewer Bureau since 1999. Kitakyushu City’s cooperation extended to other Cambodian cities, and has currently expanded to water utility planning for the whole country.
Moreover, the Government of Japan proactively promotes overseas outreach of local governments, including industries within their jurisdiction, in order to revitalize and internationalize the regional communities of Japan. MOFA and JICA now accept local governments’ application for the JICA Partnership Program (JPP) under the “regional revitalization” category, and implement technology transfers to developing countries in collaboration with those local governments.
In addition, 15 JICA offices across Japan function as a “nexus between Japanese local communities and developing countries” by providing information on international cooperation to various local actors such as citizens, NGOs, local governments, and the private sector, and undertake a variety of projects based on the strengths of those localities. Furthermore, JICA has assigned coordinators for international cooperation to relevant local government bodies, where they serve as liaison officers for local governments and regional NGOs and promote various international cooperation activities in 44 prefectures.