August, 2015 | Vol. XI No.6 Japan International Cooperation Agency Farm mechanization - past and future JICA schemes Grant Aid ODA Loan Technical Cooperation Projects Training Programmes Development Studies Emergency Disaster Relief Follow-up Cooperation Volunteers Program JICA target areas in Bhutan Agriculture and Rural Development Infrastructure Development Local Governance Social Services Development (health, education and IT) JICA members in Bhutan as of May 2015 JICA office staff: 19 (8 Internationals; 11 Nationals) Experts: 3 Senior Volunteers: 17 JOCVs: 9 Tenth Annual Consultation on Japan-Bhutan Economic Cooperation JICA Bhutan Newsletter is a monthly newsletter published by the JICA Bhutan Office and updated electronically on the JICA Bhutan website. It serves to better link all JICA Bhutan partners by offering briefs and current news on different sectors of JICA and the RGoB. It is for information purposes only and is not an official document. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of JICA. To join our e-mail based subscription, please contact at <[email protected]>. Your comments and feedback are welcome. JICA Office in collaboration with Agriculture Machinery Centre (AMC), Paro invited participants from the development partners in Thimphu, government agencies and mass media for a short meeting on the farm mechanization in Bhutan and JICA’s cooperation. JICA has a prolonged history of cooperation with AMC in farm mechanization starting from the days of late Dasho Nishioka in 1964. The Japanese support was mainly to enable the farmers grow more food by introducing labour saving machineries and better production technologies. The introduction of small walk behind power tiller has almost revolutionized agriculture and farming activities because of its versatile use and multi functions. Agriculture Machinery Centre under the Department of Agriculture in Paro is the main implementing agency for the farm mechanization projects which started from 1984 to till today. A total of 19 participants attended the meeting on 7 August 2015. The 10th Annual Consultation on Japan- Bhutan Economic Cooperation was held on 18 August 2015. The consultation discussed bilateral economic cooperation between the two countries and also probable future cooperation. The Japanese Delegation was led by Minister, Economic & Development, Embassy of Japan, New Delhi and the Bhutanese Delegation was led by Director General, Department of Bilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ODA task force from JICA Bhutan Office including the Chief Representative, Representative, Project Formulation Advisors and Senior Program Officers attended the consultation.