The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has appointed Sakamoto Takema as its new chief representative in the Philippines effective this month, following the leadership of Azukizawa Eigo, the agency said in a statement yesterday.
Prior to his appointment in the Philippines, Sakamoto held wide-ranging leadership positions in JICA for more than 30 years, including his post as chief representative in JICA Iraq and JICA India offices in 2011 and 2015 respectively.
Early on in his career, Sakamoto also served as representative of the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund in Beijing, China.
Sakamoto takes over from former chief representative Azukizawa who steered JICA’s operations in the Philippines amid the COVID-19 pandemic and enabled the implementation of key cooperation projects anchored on economic prosperity through quality growth, human security and regional peace and stability.
“It’s a great honor to be given the opportunity to lead JICA Philippine Office during this time as nations keep pace with recovery from COVID-19. JICA and the Philippines have built close ties and friendship over the years. Thus, I look forward to working with our Filipino counterparts through the basis of ‘mutual understanding and respect’ so that we can further enhance our trusted partnership through investments, sharing of Japanese knowledge and innovations, and other areas of cooperation,” Sakamoto said. – Angela Celis
