Japan provides official development assistance (ODA) as an important national policy in response to the expectations of the international community.
JICS plays an important role in implementing ODA through various supporting operations, mainly grant aid projects, technical cooperation projects and yen loan projects. Since its establishment in 1989, JICS, as a fair and impartial procurement agency, has built on its experience in equipment procurement to provide services appropriate for conditions in developing countries and that truly meet their needs.
Grant aid is a form of assistance whereby funds are provided to a developing country without repayment obligation, for a specific, agreed-upon purpose.
The aim of technical cooperation is to pass on Japan's skills and knowledge to create human resources that can be productive for the future, in order to promote nation-building in developing countries.
Yen loans, also referred to as loan aid, are long-term, low-interest loans of development funds to developing countries through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) until September 2008, and after then, it was shifted to JICA.
In recent years, JICS has been actively involved in various projects by multilateral organizations. Examples are projects funded by the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) aimed to support ASEAN regional integration, in which JICS has provided procurement services to the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN Member States and other related organizations.