The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is a bilateral aid agency responsible for administering the country’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) and supporting the implementation of the national government’s strategy for underdeveloped nations. Founded in 1974, JICA currently has 110 domestic and overseas offices and 1,929 employees. As of 2021, the agency allocated more than US$ 12.8 billion for ODA purposes in its over 150 countries and regions of operation.
DevelopmentAid, as the leading provider of business intelligence and recruitment solutions in the development sector, invited Keisuke Fukui (Director of Loan Procurement Policy and Supervision Division at JICA) and Akihito Iwasaki (Associate within the Loan Procurement Policy and Supervision Division at JICA), to provide details on JICA’s ODA procurement guidelines and eligibility criteria for participating in JICA-funded projects.
JICA by the numbers
Apart for JICA’s employees, 9,163 Japanese experts and volunteers were involved in JICA’s projects overseas in FY 2019. Another 3,217 people from developing countries were accepted for training in the same period.
The invitees gave an overview of JICA’s global operations, categorized by region:
Source: JICA
Participants were also given a breakdown of JICA’s operations, by sector:
Source: JICA
One of the biggest components of JICA ODA is lending or investing funds under concessional terms to developing nations which totaled $108.2 billion, categorized by sector:
Source: JICA
JICA also provided grants to (primarily) developing nations for a total of $5.8 billion, categorized by sector:
Source: JICA
Loan Procurement Policy and Supervision Division (LPPSD)
Participants learned about JICA’s LPPSD and how it operates, including the basic principles of procurement for JICA financed loans, which must adhere to the following:
- Be efficient
- Be non-discriminatory
- Be transparent
- Deliver quality and economy
The role of the LPPSD was also discussed, including:
- How the LPSSD issues guidelines for procurement and the hiring of consultants
- The use of Standard Bidding Documents (SBD)
- Understanding how JICA reviews the procurement process
- Training/education given by the LPSSD to assist borrowers who are not familiar with public procurements and international business practices
JICA’s Procurement Process for ODA Loans and Grants
JICA uses a number of standardized documents and processes for issuing ODA loans and grants. Participants were familiarized with some of these, including:
- The guidelines for hiring consultants
- The guidelines for procurement an ODA loan or grant
- The principles and procedures that must be followed by borrowers
JICA’s Standard Bidding Document (SBD) was also discussed, including for various categories such as:
- Designing, bidding, and building civil works
- Designing and building plants/factories
Eligibility for Bidding for a JICA Loan
Participants learned the steps necessary for bidding for a JICA loan, including:
- How all JICA loan products are supervised by the relevant overseas JICA office
- Working with Japanese consulting firms for engineering projects
For those who did not have the opportunity to join us for this online event, a link to the recorded version can be found here. The presentation materials used during this webinar can be requested at e.rata@developmentaid.org.
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