The Future of Japanese International Cooperation

Innovations Driven by Overseas Experts with Close Ties to Japan
Izumi Ohno
Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)
October 2020
Japanese international cooperation faces enormous challenges, as the COVID-19 pandemic
limits human contact and pushes people to work remotely using digital technologies. As one ofthe possible breakthroughs, Izumi Ohno, an editorialist for this journal, proposes enhanced
networking of overseas experts familiar with Japanese values and skills, cultivated throughlongstanding partnerships with Japan. She discusses the future of Japanese international
cooperation building on notable achievements made by the Technology Promotion Association(Thailand-Japan) (TPA).

Creating a Virtuous Learning Cycle
Japan takes pride in its field-oriented and hands-on approach to development cooperation.
Many Japanese experts have endeavored to give concrete advice to partner countries throughjoint work with local counterparts, mindful of country-specific circumstances. Such an approach
can be commonly observed in the Japanese business sector. Dr. Hiroyuki Itami, the Presidentof the International University of Japan and a specialist of Japanese corporate management,emphasizes the Japanese-style "Human-Capitalism," which is built on human networks and cocreation on space, in contrast with Western-style capitalism.
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has urged us to try new ways of doing things, such as online
training and remote teaching. In practice, everyone seems to be experimenting how toeffectively use “explicit” knowledge that can be easily shared in a standardized way and “tacit”
knowledge that can be passed only through hands-on guidance in the field. And each one of us
is trying to find out the process of co-creating knowledge with counterparts. Japan should
absolutely take this opportunity to accelerate digitization. Still, face-to-face dialogues are
essential to co-create new knowledge through exchanges of ideas, stimulus and inspiration.
We must carefully examine the content and method for knowledge sharing in order to produce
a virtuous cycle of learning, by properly combining implicit and explicit knowledge. At the sametime, it is important to convert the COVID-19 pandemic into an opportunity to innovateinternational cooperation. Based on my research on the network of Asian industrial humanresources familiar with Japan, I have been proposing “network-based development cooperation”
as a way forward, working with those people and organizations that share common values andknow-how cultivated through longstanding partnerships with Japan. Their experience isvaluable, particularly with respect to how they acquired knowledge and technologies throughjoint projects with Japan, internalized and adapted them suitable to country-specific context,
and promoted domestically. (Professor Keiji Maegawa of University of Tsukuba calls suchprocess "translative adaptation.")The ongoing pandemic has made us keenly aware that the models of developed countries
are not necessarily superior, and that we must go beyond the conventional notion ofdevelopment assistance, which the wealthier North provides to the developing South. In myview, people and organizations that have experience absorbing and adapting Japanese values
and methods through translative adaptation could create a virtuous learning cycle by combining
implicit and explicit knowledge through the content and methods suitable for local realities, asmentioned above.

Associated Benefits to Japanese Companies and Local Communities
Let us take Thailand for example, with which Japan has a long history of economic
cooperation and official development assistance (ODA), as well as business partnership.
Thanks to such accumulated assets, in Thailand there are a wealth of industrial humanresources familiar with Japanese value and skills. Among others, the Technology Promotion
Association (Thailand-Japan) (TPA)—a non-profit organization (NPO) that supports thedevelopment of industrial human resources—stands out for its expertise in promoting
monozukuri or Japanese-style manufacturing. TPA was established in 1973 with the objectiveof promoting industrial development in Thailand, at an initiative of Thai students who graduatedfrom Japanese universities and ex-trainees of the Association for Overseas TechnicalCooperation and Sustainable Partnerships (AOTS).
TPA has developed in four stages: (1) “technology transfer” by learning from Japaneseexperts; (2) “technology promotion” by nurturing Thai experts while reducing dependence on
Japanese experts; (3) “technology diffusion” by building capacity of local companies throughtraining and consulting activities; and (4) “technology education” through the establishment of
Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology (TNI) as a university specialized in Japanese-style
manufacturing by the Thai people for the Thai people.
Throughout these stages, TPA has secured their own revenue sources through businessactivities, such as calibration of industrial instruments, Japanese language training, publicationof technical documents and drawings, and training of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
management consultants. These independent revenue sources have made it possible toestablish a private university (TNI) in 2007—a long-standing dream of TPA.
Currently, nearly 4,000 students study at TNI. Many graduates are employed at Japanesecompanies and their local suppliers. TNI has also signed partnership agreements with over 50
universities in Japan, and various exchange programs are being implemented. For instance,Osaka Prefecture University, the City of Sakai, and the Sakai Chamber of Commerce andIndustry jointly host senior students from TNI under an internship program that offers bothclassroom lectures and practical training at local companies. Some Thai interns have comeback to work at host companies in Sakai after they graduated from TNI. In this manner, theinternship program has benefited local SMEs willing to expand their business overseas, as well
as local communities. Furthermore, since August 2018, TNI has offered an international
educational program for youths of neighboring ASEAN countries to teach Japanese-style
manufacturing.
Notably, TPA has served as a social enterprise, in which Thai graduates from Japanese
universities and ex-AOTS trainees launch new initiatives under the clear vision to promote
Thailand’s industrial development by using their close ties with Japan. While Japan has
supported TPA activities for many years through public-private partnership including ODA, it isthe Thai counterparts who set goals and vision with strong ownership. This is the reason whytrust has been fostered between both Thai and Japanese sides based on shared values.
Japan Should Serve as a Facilitator
There are three key factors behind the success of TPA and TNI. First, there exists a coregroup of Thai experts who strongly committed to building and expanding their networks withJapan.
These experts studied at Japanese engineering universities during the 1960s and 70s. They
were convinced of the importance of adopting and diffusing the latest technologies andknowledge from Japan in Thailand. After returning home, they engaged in TPA activities, whileplaying important roles in Thai industry, government and academia. Secondly, Mr. Goichi
Hozumi served as an unparalleled Japanese mentor. The socially-minded educator dedicatedhis life to the progress of developing countries by receiving foreign students and trainees toJapan. He established the Asian Students Cultural Association (ABA) and the AOTS, andserved as the first chairperson of Japan-Thailand Economic Cooperation Society (JTECS).
Many Thai alumni were inspired by Mr. Hozumi and committed to uphold and further his vision.
Eventually, they became the core founders of the TPA. Lastly, the public and private sectors ofJapan have also supported the social enterprise activities conducted by TPA and TNI. It should
be remembered that JTECS as a Japanese NPO facilitated the mobilization of public andprivate resources while respecting the needs of Thai counterparts.
In recent years, the government of Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) have been expanding the programs for inviting international students to Japan. The
move is extremely important for expanding the pool of overseas experts with close ties to Japan.
Instead of simply increasing their number, it is important to identify and foster motivated experts
who would play core roles based on shared values. Japan should bolster its own capacity tosupport these experts and related organizations so that they can drive the development ofrespective countries, and eventually play active roles in Japan and the rest of the world. Various
financial resources and methods can be mobilized. For TPA and TNI, JTECS has played afacilitator’s role by mobilizing Japanese ODA (in particular, technical cooperation) and privatesector cooperation. There are many more possible ways, such as financial cooperation with theprivate sector including social investment, as well as collaboration with local governments. InVietnam, Mr. Le Long Son, who studied at a graduate school of engineering in Japan, has setup ESUHAI Co., Ltd., a private training institute. ESUHAI offers training for the Vietnameseyouth before their coming to Japan as technical intern trainees and helps with the job search
after their return to Vietnam. JICA has assisted its facility improvement through the overseas
investment and loan program.
TPA and TNI are a leading example of future-oriented international cooperation for several
reasons. They have successfully forged an extensive network of Thai experts with close ties toJapan based on the longstanding partnership between two countries. They have also played
essential roles as social enterprises. We would like to turn the COVID-19 crisis into an
opportunity to innovate international cooperation driven by overseas experts and organizations
who are familiar with Japanese value and skills. The fundamental premise, however, is thatJapan must remain an attractive country for overseas partners and refrain from unilaterally
imposing its own agenda on partner countries.
Izumi Ohno is Professor of the National Graduate Institute for Policy
Studies (GRIPS). She served as Director of the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) Ogata Sadako Research Institute for
Peace and Development from October 2018 to September 2020.
Prior to joining GRIPS, she worked at JICA, the World Bank, and theJapan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

[Translated from the author’s article in Japanese, which appeared in The International Develop
ment Journal, October 2020, No. 756, pp. 8-9}