Kazakhstan-Japan: from ODA recipient to partnership and joint projects

For many years, Japan has provided support to Kazakhstan through official development assistance (ODA), contributing to sustainable development and the transfer of advanced knowledge.

Today, our cooperation has reached a new level.

In December 2022, the Kazakhstan Agency of International Development (KazAID) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation. This was an important step away from the ‘donor-recipient’ model towards an equal partnership and joint implementation of projects for third countries.

KazAID and JICA implement joint projects for Central Asian and Caucasian countries on an annual basis, including in the following areas:

• earthquake resistance and natural disaster risk reduction;
• entrepreneurship development using the Japanese Kaizen philosophy;
• digital transformation in agriculture;
• strengthening customs risk management capacity.

This format of cooperation reflects Kazakhstan's evolution as an ODA donor and its contribution to regional development in collaboration with leading international partners.

For reference: JICA is the executive agency for the Japanese Government's official development assistance and was established in 1974.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/kazaid/press/news/details/1128735?lang=kk