On the 28^th of January, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo (Tokyo Prefecture, Japan) launched a public tender for a Facial Recognition System for the Consul Operational information system. The tender is likely published in the framework of the digitalization of the government, as a part of which Japan is making it possible for residents to apply for passports online. This tender concerns an open tendering procedure under the GPA-rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be holding an explanatory meeting on the tender on Thursday the 10^th of February 2022 from 15:00 Japanese time, at the Ministry’s office. Attendance to this meeting needs to be confirmed by mail (choutatsu-service-3a@mofa.go.jp">choutatsu-service-3a@mofa.go.jp) before Wednesday the 9^th of February, 10:00 Japanese time. The deadline for tender submission will be Tuesday the 22^nd of March, 10:00 Japanese time. The results will be announced at the Ministry’s office on Thursday March 24^th 11:00 Japanese time, and to this meeting a representative needs to be present. For more information, go to the search engine of the Public Procurement Portal of Japan (Chotatsu Portal) and fill out the tender number at the bottom of the page, under “Procurement No.”. Tender number is 304397.

The details of the tender (only Japanese) can be obtained from the Tokyo Office of Flanders Investment & Trade (e-mail: tokyo@fitagency.com">tokyo@fitagency.com).