Japan Bank for International Cooperation
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The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (国際協力銀行 Kokusai Kyōryoku Ginkou?), also known by its acronym, JBIC, is a Japanese financial aid institution created in October 1, 1999, through the merging of the Export-Import Bank of Japan (JEXIM) and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund, Japan (OECF). [1]
The bank's capital is totally Japanese, and its budget and operations are regulated by Japanese laws, namely, the JBIC law. Its main office is located in Tokyo, but the bank can maintain subsidiary offices overseas. The main purpose of the institution is to promote economical cooperation between Japan and oversea countries, by providing resources to foreign investments and by fostering international commerce. It also has a major role in promoting Japanese exports and imports, and the country's activities overseas.
The bank's presence can be seen both in developed and developing countries. It tries to contribute to the stability of the international financial order and to the promotion of sustainable development. It follows a policy of not competing with ordinary financial institutions. The bank is one of the instruments of Japan's official development assistance (ODA), which contributes to the execution of the country's foreign policy.
As it aims at sustainable development, JBIC is concerned about social and environmental issues, [2] and requires Environmental Impact Assessment studies in order to provide funding to any project.
[edit] Operation
JBIC has mainly two ways of performing its loans: International Financial Operations (IFO) and Overseas Economic Operations (ODA). These operations are independent of each other, and are clearly separated in the bank's financial statements.
The IFO operations include loans and equity participation in overseas projects of Japanese corporations, therefore contributing to Japanese activities overseas. These operations are aimed at both developed and developing countries. As of March 31, 2006, the IFO operations accounted for 985.5 billion yen. [3]
The ODA operations are aimed mainly at developing countries, specially the ones in Asia, which accounted for 51,8% of the bank's operations in 2004 fiscal year [4]. These operations provide long-term and low interest loans to important projects that develop social structure and infrastructure of developing countries. The JBIC's financial assistance represents 40 percent of Japan's official development assistance. As of March 31, 2006, the ODA operations accounted for 770 billion yen. [5]
As of March, 2005, the country which had access to the most loans was Indonesia, followed by China and the Philippines. Brazil was the most benefited from South American countries, holding the sixth place in the bank's investments. [6]
