On February 1, 2023, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the World Bank Group held the 9th JICA-World Bank Group High-Level Dialogue online. The two sides exchanged views on three of the world’s most pressing issues (climate change, food security, and private sector finance) and agreed to further strengthen cooperation in their respective regions.
Since 2014, JICA and the World Bank Group have been discussing ways to strengthen collaboration at the headquarters and field level through dialogue on priority themes and regions in annual consultations known as “Deep Dives”. This year’s 9th Deep Dive, the discussions were held on the above three themes and six regions (Southeast Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean) in person and online since last October.
In the area of climate change, the participants agreed to support the formation and implementation of Long Term Strategies (LTS) in each country, building on the Country Climate and Development Reports that the World Bank Group has prepared for more than 25 countries to date. The agreement was made to support the formation and implementation of Long Term Strategies (LTS) in each country based on Country Climate and Development Reports. The participants also agreed to support the formulation of roadmaps for developing countries to achieve the Paris Agreement, and to collaborate in supporting the introduction of innovative decarbonization technologies, such as hydrogen.
In the area of food security, we shared strong concerns about the food crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is most affected by the current rise in fertilizer and food prices, and exchanged views on measures to be taken by both organizations. In terms of specific areas for future collaboration, we agreed to start with the four elements of food security (food production, farmer training and private sector development in the agricultural sector, nutrition improvement, and climate change), but also to consider new areas that will contribute to food system transformation.
In private sector finance, under the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) signed with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 2017, we achieved our goal of making a total of $1.5 billion in co-investments over five years and confirmed our future collaboration policy based on the MOC, which was renewed last September. The MOC was updated in September last year. We agreed to work together with IFC and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) to expand our collaboration in climate change measures, agricultural sector support for food security, and low-income countries and island countries in the future.
The results of the previous year’s discussions are also steadily bearing fruit. In the area of human capital, including education, COVID-19 compliance, and health, we confirmed progress in collaboration in Cambodia, Bhutan, Senegal, Morocco, and other countries, as well as joint dissemination through side events at the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8). In addition, we confirmed our achievements in holding webinars on quality infrastructure investment.
In addition, we exchanged views on the potential for collaboration in a wide range of areas in each region, including climate change, energy transition, disaster management, connectivity, debt issues, and health.
The two institutions will continue dialogue and strengthen their collaboration at various levels.
© Source JICA