Japan to set up JBIC representative office in Amman

AMMAN - Cooperation between Jordan and Japan took a new turn on Thursday when the two sides signed an exchange of notes for the establishment of a representative office for the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) in Amman.

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Suhair Al-Ali and Japanese Ambassador in Jordan Shigenobu Kato signed the agreement on behalf of their respective governments. JBIC Chief Representative in Amman Motoyuki Takahashi attended the signing ceremony, along with the Japan International Cooperation Agency's (JICA) Managing Director of Department of Middle East and Europe Juro Chikaraishi, according to statements released by the Planning Ministry and the Japanese embassy.

The JBIC, the second Japanese institution to set up an office in Amman, is a policy-based financial institution established in 1999 to undertake lending and financial operations of Japan abroad, with a mandate to work for the "stability of the international financial order and for economic and social development of recipient countries," the embassy statement said.

Al-Ali said the establishment of the bank's representative office in the country indicated continued commitment on the part of the Japanese government to further support Jordan's social and economic development process, noting that the office is to follow up on the progress of projects funded by the bank in Jordan and in the region, particularly Palestine and Iraq.

According to official Japanese sources, Japan has extended loans, through the JBIC and its predecessor Overseas Economic Cooperation Operations worth $2.2 billion to Jordan since 1974.

Over the past five years alone, the assistance exceeded $316 million, of which more than $256 million was in the form of grants that funded various key development projects in areas of health, water, environment, industry, information technology and general safety.

Meanwhile, $60 million was allocated in the form of soft loans extended by the JBIC to fund tourism development projects.

Also on Thursday, Al-Ali met separately with Chikaraishi and the accompanying delegation. The two sides discussed means of enhancing development cooperation between the two countries, and possibilities of implementing new Japanese initiatives aimed at addressing the issues of peace and stability in the region through economic cooperation, officials at the ministry said.

Founded in 1974, the JICA, which has had a presence in Jordan since 1991, is Japan's technical assistance arm. The agency focuses on institution building, organisation strengthening and human resources development so as to enable developing countries to pursue their own sustainable socio-economic development.

Japan has recently focused on NGOs that deal directly with grassroots projects through a programme known as Japanese Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GAGP).

Under this programme, the Japanese embassy in Jordan and the Young Woman Christian Association (YWCA) on Tuesday celebrated the re-opening of a kindergarten the association runs at the Baqaa camp. The Japanese government had granted the sum of $106,000 to the YWCA to reconstruct the kindergarten. The YWCA was obliged to temporarily close the facility three years ago because the building was susceptible to collapse. As part of the YWCA's human resources development projects, the four-classroom kindergarten has 60 students.

On the same day, and under the same aid programme, Shigenobu signed an agreement with Jamal Yousef, director of the Princess Alia Bint Al Hussein Centre for Special Education, under which Japan will extend $15,000 to the centre. The money will be used to buy

school furniture and educational equipment to improve the quality of education provided by the charity.

The centre, located in the Baqaa camp, was established in 1974 to serve around 130 mentally challenged students aged between six and 21.

Earlier this year, hundreds of potential beneficiaries of the grassroots grant programme, under which Japan provides assistance to relatively small projects proposed by local governments, educational or medical agencies and NGOs, were familiarised with eligibility requirements through a series of workshops in Amman, Irbid and Maan.

Japanese officials envision the assistance to be flexible, timely and with a direct impact at the grassroots level.

Japan has extended assistance of $5.6 million to roughly 100 projects in 12 years under the GAGP.

The Japanese government set an upper limit for each initiative at 10,000,000 Japanese yen (approximately $90,000).