The JICA Alumni Association Forum of Saarc Countries (JAAFC) has set up its Secretariat Office in Nepal.

Jun Sakuma, Chief Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) inaugurated the office at the JICA Alumni Association Nepal (JAAN) building in Balkhu amid a programme on Thursday.

The JAAFSC was first established in Dhaka in 2008 and its second meeting was held in Kathmandu. But the office had remained inactive for nearly a decade in Dhaka. 

A joint meeting of the representatives of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) decided last October to shift its office to Kathmandu.

“The JAAFC had been inactive for years, but the effort of JAAN team has revived it. Now, JICA can work together and benefit for each other in the future,” said Sakuma.

The JAAFSC was established to foster mutual understanding and cooperation between the members of JICA Alumni Associations of Saarc countries and Japan.

“I visited all the Saarc countries conducting joint meeting with JICA offices, and took the initiative to revive it,” said Dr Ram Chandra Bhusal, president of JAAN, who was unanimously elected as secretary general of JAAFSC last year.

“They said during a meeting in Dhaka that they would just give us the secretariat post. But our tireless effort has enabled us to shift the entire secretariat office into Nepal,” said Bhusal.