The Japan International Cooperation System (JICS), established as a public-service foundation in April 1989 upon authorization by the Minister for Foreign Affairs ? and now free to bid for projects offered by international organizations and other bilateral donors ? continues to promote high-quality international cooperation.
JICS achieves this by providing appropriate and effective assistance in implementing bilateral grant activities, as part of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA), as well as through other international cooperation programs for developing countries and territories ? and thus contributes to the economic and social development worldwide as well as the enhancement of friendly international relations.
JICS has also made its own modest contributions in the field, with the guidance of the Ministry and venerable domestic institutions such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), with the cooperation of various foreign government organizations and ODA-related bodies.
In order to proactively respond to a changing environment, JICS aims to respond to diversified needs in international aid; build a stronger organizational framework appropriate for an international procurement management agency; and communicate its message more effectively in order to stimulate broader understanding of its work.
JICS, working for the further development of developing countries, endeavors to procure goods and services suitable for local conditions at appropriate prices and in an effective manner, while also ensuring that available funds are used in the best way possible. JICS does so following procedures that meet internationally accepted best practices, legal and ethical requirements. As ever, in carrying out operations, JICS’s priority is to maintain an impartial stance to ensure fairness and transparency.
Following the devastating earthquake off the coast of Sumatra and tsunami in the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004, these aims and practices were evident in JICS’s procurement of consultant services for building facilities through conducting international competitive bidding, as part of Japan’s non-project grant aid for the affected region.
In this aid activity JICS came up against many new obstacles – but also learned lessons that imparted valuable experience and strengthened systems for responding appropriately to needs; for example, JICS was able to conduct timely procurement management for emergency grant aid following the earthquake in Pakistan on October 8, 2005.
Apart from such tragic events that make world headlines, JICS remains involved in a broad range of grant aid, technical cooperation and other aid activities – including those connected to rehabilitation in Afghanistan and Iraq – and has set up a task force charged with examining how we can deal with and respond to ongoing changes in the ODA environment.
For more information, please feel free to contact JICS by post, email or telephone/fax:
Shinjuku EAST Building, 10-5, Tomihisa-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-0067 JAPAN
Tel: +81-3-5369-6960 Fax: +81-3-5369-6961
E-mail: jics@jics.or.jp
Website: http://www.jics.or.jp/
