QC Grade 4 Pilot Test Held in Vietnam
July 13, 2022
Japanese Standards Association

On the day of the pilot test

1. Overview of this project
The Japanese Standards Association (JSA Group), utilizing the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund(JAIF) project, is implementing the "Development of ASEAN Common Qualification Scheme for Quality
Control Experts" based on the Japanese Quality Control Examination (QC KENTEI) from January
2020.
This project is divided into two phases: a feasibility study (FS) for 10 ASEAN countries and a pilot testof the QC KENTEI (Grade 4) in the ASEAN countries selected through the FS.
Although the progress of the project has been delayed due to the global spread of the COVID-19, fourcountries (Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia) have been selected for pilot testing
through the FS in summer 2021.
Vietnam was the first of these four countries to conduct the pilot test, and the pilot test for QC KENTEI
was held in Hanoi on Sunday, June 19, 2022.

2. Background and SignificanceThis project was applied for and adopted by the JAIF project in October 2019 with the support of theMinistry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) with the aim of developin g an ASEAN common
qualification scheme for quality control experts using the QC KENTEI conducted in Japan, as we
believe that providing quality control (QC) education and training to people working in ASEAN andimproving their knowledge level on QC can improve the competitiveness of private companies in
ASEAN countries.
The JAIF project requires one ASEAN country to be the Proponent, and the contact point for theproject is the Vietnamese government agency, the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality(STAMEQ). The JSA group is acting as the Implementing Agency for the project.

3. Overview of Pilot Test in Vietnama) The pilot test was held on the morning of Sunday, June 19, 2022 at Vietnam Japan Univer sity inHanoi.

b) Before the test began, an opening ceremony was held to celebrate the first QC KENTEI in Vietnam.
Mr. Le Minh Tam, Deputy Director of STAMEQ Quality Training Center (QTC), the project director inVietnam, gave an overview of the project. In addition, Dr. Ha Minh Hiep, Deputy Director General ofSTAMEQ, read a message about his expectations for the project, and a message from Mr. Takenami,President of JSA Solutions Co., Ltd., was read on behalf of the Association.

Scene of the Opening Ceremony（left end：STAMEQ Dr. Ha Minh Hiep, Third from right：STAMEQ/QTC Mr. Le Minh Tam）

c) The test was conducted for Grade 4, the basic level of QC KENTEI, and 85 of the 100 applicants took
the test on the day of the event.

d) The Vietnamese examinees followed the instructions of the local staff and took the test very seriously
and in an orderly fashion, just as they do in Japan.

e) When we later checked with STAMEQ to see what the examinees had to say, they generally gavehigh marks, saying that the Japanese-style test was very new to them, with its solid procedures andother features.

4. Upcoming plans
We plan to hold pilot tests in Malaysia (October 2022), the Philippines (April 2023), and Indonesia(to be coordinated) by the end of June 2023, the deadline for the completion of this project.

※This project on Development of ASEAN Common Qualification Scheme for Quality Control Experts
is supported by the Government of Japan through the Japan -ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF).

【About JAIF】
The Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) was officially established in March 2006. JAIF aims atsupporting integration efforts to create the ASEAN Community by facilitating the implementation ofthe ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together, which consists of the blueprints for the ASEAN Political
Security Community (APSC), ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and ASEAN Socio -CulturalCommunity (ASCC), as well as the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plan IV and the MasterPlan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025. JAIF also aims at promoting greater cooperation between
ASEAN and Japan by implementing various projects in the areas of disaster management, counter
terrorism, maritimecooperation, economic integration, small

and medium -sizeddevelopment, youth exchanges, Japanese language training, and others.

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