Ms. Yumiko Asakuma is the new Resident Representative for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Samoa. She arrived into the country on 15th May 2022.
Ms. Asakuma is the first female Resident Representative to head JICA Samoa since its establishment in 1988.
She transitioned into her new role on 1st May 2022, taking over from her predecessor Mr. Akihiko Hoshino.
Prior to being appointed to JICA Samoa, she recently completed a 3 year and 3 months assignment to JICA Nepal as Chief Representative.
Ms. Asakuma was born and raised in Osaka, Japan, before moving to Tokyo after graduation.
She worked as an underwriting administrative staff and a retail business analyst for a security firm, before joining JICA in 1993.
Since then, she worked in various Technical Cooperation Projects, including Development Studies, and Grant Aid Projects of Social Economic Development in JICA Headquarters. In addition, she has experience working in JICA Overseas Offices including Nepal, Bhutan and India, as well as Domestic Offices in Yokohama and Tokyo, Japan.
In the upcoming weeks, Ms. Asakuma will pay courtesy visits to all counterpart Offices.
She looks forward to helping further develop, and strengthen strong ties between both countries. According to Ms. Asakuma, “I am excited about living in Samoa, a beautiful country in the South Pacific and working for the development of Samoa and contributing further friendship and partnership between Samoa and Japan.”