More than 600 Japanese volunteers who have served Fiji over in the last 30 years have made significant socio economic contributions and at the same time have contributed to boosting bilateral ties and mutual friendship between Fiji and Japan.
At a celebration this week commemorating the 30 years of cooperation through the Japanese volunteers coming to Fiji through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under the Japan Overseas Co-operation Volunteers Programme (JOCV), the contribution made by JICA personnel to many sectors in Fiji was commended.
The Public Service Commission permanent secretary Mr Parmesh Chand highlighted that over the years, volunteers have provided a vital contribution to areas such as resource management, education, health, culture, sports, fisheries, rural development, disaster management and many more.
“The services and expertise of the volunteers have enriched our people, communities and country as a whole with information, know-how, skills and technology in our quest for building a better Fiji,” he said.
“We will continue to support this programme and furthermore develop synergies between the JICA volunteer programme and the Fiji Volunteer Service as we stand to benefit in terms of sharing of information and expertise from the many years of existence of the JOVC”, Mr Chand said.
On the bilateral front, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation permanent secretary, Mr Amena Yauvoli said the volunteer system was a positive platform for forging stronger ties with each other.
He said like any other developing country, Fiji also faces capacity constraints and these volunteers have helped to fill in this gap by imparting their technical expertise to Fijians.
“We hope you will continue to do so in the years to come and at the same time we can forge a more fruitful relation in the future,” Mr Yauvoli said.
The first group of volunteers to Fiji arrived in 1983 as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 1982 between the governments of Fiji and Japan.
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