At the invitation of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), representatives of the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories and the State Agency for Restoration paid a working visit to Japan. Deputy Minister for Development of Communities and Territories Maryna Denysiuk headed the delegation. The purpose of the visit was to exchange experience in reconstruction after large-scale destruction, in particular after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

“I would like to express my gratitude to the people of Japan for their unwavering support and partnership. This cooperation of ours has already shown significant results. Together we are implementing a number of projects. However, we seek to deepen our interaction and are convinced that the Japanese experience of reconstruction after large-scale disasters can be extremely useful to us. In particular, when it comes to building a reconstruction architecture and a network of relevant institutions - both within the Government and at the regional level. That is why this trip was extremely useful and productive for us. Thank you to JICA for the invitation and organization," said Maryna Denisyuk.

During the visit, Maryna Denisyuk held a number of meetings, the focus of which was to discuss the priorities for the recovery of Ukraine and the implementation of joint projects with Japan:

• Meeting with JICA Senior Vice President Kinichi Kamawura Kinichi: further cooperation within the framework of the Emergency Recovery Program, future potential projects in the housing sector, support for the energy, water supply and logistics sectors, projects for the construction of cities.
• Meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan: results of the RDNA4 report, expansion of support and establishment of cooperation between postal operators of the countries.
• Meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism: cooperation within the JUPITER platform, which was launched earlier this year, involvement of the Japanese private sector, preparation for the visit of Japanese business to Ukraine. Separate attention was also paid to the issues of exchanging experience in organizing automobile traffic in cities and implementing large infrastructure projects.
• Meeting with mayors of earthquake-affected cities: exchange of experience in implementing reconstruction projects and a visit to the city of HigashiMatsushima to see firsthand some of the initiatives implemented in practice.

“The Japanese system of regional management and interaction with communities is quite close to the Ukrainian one. We are convinced that, taking this into account, the Japanese architecture of reconstruction can be partially applicable in Ukraine. I am grateful to my Japanese colleagues for receiving us. This visit was undoubtedly useful and I hope that in the future we will really use the experience gained by implementing reconstruction projects in Ukraine,” commented Maryna Denisyuk.

A number of discussions on practical aspects of reconstruction were also held between the Ukrainian delegation and the Advisor to the Prime Minister of Japan, Masakatsu Okamoto, representatives of the Japan Reconstruction Agency, the Urban Renaissance Agency, the Ministry of Ecology, and the Japan Housing Finance Agency.

Background information. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Government of Japan has been providing significant financial, technical and consulting support to Ukraine to eliminate the consequences of large-scale destruction.
In particular, since 2023, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories and JICA have been successfully implementing 4 projects: the Technical Cooperation Project and three phases of the Emergency Recovery Program. The fourth phase of this program was recently launched. The total amount of grant and technical assistance provided by the Government of Japan to the Ministry reaches over $700 million.

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