KOBAYASHI Ryutaro, former Chief Representative of JICA Palau Office, bids farewell to Palau on May 24th as the Office welcomes his successor, AOKI Tsunenori.
Kobayashi has been in Palau for three and a half years. Arriving as soon as the borders opened, Kobayashi played a key role in reestablishing and boosting JICA’s many schemes from the JOCV Program (JICA Volunteers) to creating meaningful Technical Cooperation and Grant Aid projects. Palau was the first in the Pacific to resume JOCV Program after the pandemic. JICA has expanded its operations during his tenure, and the number of JICA staff has increased from five to thirteen in the past three and a half years.
Aoki comes to Palau with a long history with JICA. With an interest in the health sector, he has held critical roles within and outside of JICA, including as Director of JICA’s Health Division, Policy Advisor to the Ghana Health Service, and most recently Professor at Nagasaki University School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health. We look forward to a new chapter at JICA Palau Office with Aoki as the new Chief Representative.
JICA Palau office receives new Chief representative
