A Message from the President

President Toru Nakatani

Japan International Cooperation System (JICS) focuses on realizing its goal of becoming a procurement agency that is recognized internationally as a leader in its field, and aims to fulfill the mission that society has set for it by carrying out each project from a standpoint of fairness and impartiality within the Japanese government's ODA programs.

Within the ODA programs, the operations performed by JICS have focused primarily on the procurement of goods and services, as well as the provision of support for goods and equipment procurement that is related to technical cooperation. From this basis, JICS has expanded the scope of its operations to the broader field of international cooperation, including such areas as initial screening of procurement-related documentation submitted by recipient countries as part of Japan's ODA loan procedures, as well as operations not directly related to Japanese ODA, such as contracts on the procurement of goods and services commissioned by the international organizations.

Furthermore, JICS took on new operations that went beyond the organization's traditional ambit. In some recent projects such as reconstruction assistance operations we commenced in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the operations in response to Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in 2005, we took on new roles that included not only procurement of services but also supervision of overall project execution in facility restoration and infrastructure construction projects.

These projects saw an expansion of our operations while the methods required for the execution of such operations were vastly different to our traditional projects, which had been principally limited to goods and equipment procurement. We needed not only to fulfill our primary function of providing procurement operations but also to act swiftly and flexibly as a service provider, in response to a diverse range of needs and issues based on the requirements of counterpart governments. The entire JICS organization focused on providing the highest services possible.

We learned a great number of lessons through these experiences, and as a result I believe that JICS was able to bolster its capabilities and roles. I am also confident that based on such experiences, we have been selected and commissioned to carry out procurement agent services related to grand aid schemes newly established by the Japanese government - "Grant aid for community empowerment" and "Grant aid for disaster prevention and reconstruction" and "Program grant aid for environment and climate change" established in 2008.

As interest in ODA among the Japanese public and people working within related institutions increases year by year, JICS must firmly maintain its standpoint of fairness and impartiality, and we also must respond appropriately and more expeditiously to various issues and changes, in accordance with the JICS Vision and the JICS Code of Conduct, strive to steadily implement our operations as a service provider in the field of the international cooperation.

By taking full advantage of our abundant experiences as mentioned above, through the procurement operations, we are committed to becoming an organization capable of winning an increased level of confidence among the international organizations. We will also aim to become one of the official development assistance organizations of the world's highest standard and continuously endeavor to increase our value as the sole public procurement organization in Japan. In these endeavors, we look forward to your continued guidance and encouragement.

Toru Nakatani
President
Japan International Cooperation System (JICS)