CONTENTS

AJCE and its Activities, 2009

Akihiko Hirotani

01

Promotion of Qualified Dispute Adjudication Board (DAB) Membersin the Asian Region

Dr. Toshihiko Omoto

02

Consulting and Cross Cultural Communication

Masayoshi Takeuchi

04

Activities of ASPAC Sub-Committee in AJCE in the year of 2008

Masakazu Maeda

05

AJCE Activity 2008
FIDIC President Visited Japan
AJCE Annual Seminar 2008
Young Professionals Exchange Programme 2008
Inauguration of MOU between AJCE and KENCA
Dialogues with Richard Stump

08
10
12
14
31
32

Project Accomplishments by AJCE Members

33

Editor's note

50

AJCE Members

Illustration
Masatoshi Tsutsui, Tsumiki Kobo

NEWS LETTER 2009
 In July, AJCE and Korea Engineering & Consulting
Association (KENCA) conclude the memorandum of
understanding to cooperate and enhance each other's

The Association of Japanese Consulting Engineers (AJCE)
was established in 1974 and was approved as a legal
entity by the Science and Technology Agency of Japan(currently, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Scienceand Technology) in 1977. AJCE is a member of theInternational Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC)
representing the interests and views of Japanese
consulting industry.

resources for mutual business opportunities that willcontribute significantly for the development ofengineering industries in both countries.
 In October, seven young Japanese engineers visited
Australia for three weeks under the Young Professionals
Exchange Program. This program has been continuing

Our issue

for more than 10 years to foster relationships between

AJCE is promoting Quality-Based Selection (QBS) for theemployment of consultants by central governments andinternational financiers such as Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA). Four years have passed
since the Act for Promoting Quality Assurance in Public
Works came into force in Japan. This law emphasizes thatconsiderations other than cost must be taken to secure
product quality. It also specifies that designers play a
crucial role in determining the quality of the product.
Consultants must therefore ensure that their professional
skills are of the highest standard and should pay attention
to upgrading them as required.

Our activity in 2008
Every year, AJCE members
participate in the FIDIC annual
conference and contribute to
the conference in various roles,
demonstrating that AJCE is oneof the major active member
associations of FIDIC.

AJCE, ACEA (Australia) and ACENZ (New Zealand)
aiming at nurturing global minded professionals.
AJCE carries out activities that enhance the professional
capability of Consultants.
 In July, annual seminar was held, entitled as “RiskManagement in consulting Practices”.
Four speakers gave different perspectives on risk
management. Many members from AJCE as well as
non-members participated in the seminar anddeepened their knowledge of the role of consultants inrisk management.
 In July and August,
Dispute Adjudication

AJCE and Its Activity,
2009

CECOPHIL (Philippines)
and CEAI (India). AJCE is
promoting DAB together

was held at Quebéc, Canada
on ”A Strong Industry Serving

University, and Mr. Nakagawa,were held in Tokyo,
Kyoto, Manila and Delhi
in cooperation with JBIC,

 In September, FIDIC conference

Society”. AJCE members, Dr.
Omoto, Professor, Kyoto

Board (DAB) seminars

Akihiko Hirotani
President, AJCE
President, Oriental Consultants Co., Ltd.

Advisor of JBIC (now JICA)
attended the conference andwith FIDIC, JBIC andKyoto University.
 In November, seminar onenergy, railways andsafety management washeld in Tokyo.

All of AJCE's eight standing
committees
continueworking enthusiastically.
They are Ethics, Policy and Planning, General Affairs &Finance, Membership, International Activities, Professional
Development, Interchange of Technology; and Publicity& Relations committees.
AJCE will continue these activities in the coming year. We will
also continuously support FIDIC activities such as a Kathmandu
2009 Conference in March supported by FIDIC/ASPAC and2009 FIDIC London conference in September.
AJCE endeavors to be recognized as trusted advisor tosociety and enhances activities for quality-based
selection. Based on the initiatives as mentioned above,
AJCE will contribute to the advancement of science andtechnology, the development of industry, the well-being
and sustainability of the natural and built environment,
and the enhancement of people's safety and welfare.

contributed in nine seminars
and three workshops. Action Plan to promote
adjudicators in Asian region was introduced in ASPACGAM.
AJCE encourages its members to develop the relationshipwith other FIDIC member associations.
 In April, several members of AJCE, including myself,
concurrently serving as the chair of ASPAC, participatedat the FIDIC/ASPAC annual conference held in Seoul.
ASPAC is a regional group of FIDIC member associationsin the Asia-Pacific Region. About 500 people from Asiaand the Pacific attended the conference. AJCE
contributed in the three themes, namely, Solving the
Disparity in Engineering Techniques, Outsourcing
Human Resources, and Public Private Partnership & the
Procurement of International Funding.

Thank you.

1NEWS LETTER 2009

Promotion of Qualified Dispute Adjudication
Board (DAB) Members in the Asian Region

Dr. Toshihiko Omoto
Professor
Graduate School of Management (MBA)Kyoto University

1. Background
Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)1
issued the “Sample Bidding Documents on Civil
Works under JBIC ODA Loans (hereinafterreferred to as “the Sample Documents”)” in 1999,
which are based on the “Conditions of Contract
for Works of Civil Engineering and Construction,
1987 (revised 1988 and 1992) (hereinafter referred toas “the Red Book”)” issued by the International
Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC). While theSample Documents have been widely used for thecontracts on civil works under JBIC ODA Loan, FIDIC
published a new edition of the Red Book in 1999.
The World Bank (WB) and other MultilateralDevelopment Banks such as Asian Development
Bank (ADB) in cooperation with FIDIC published“MDB Harmonized Edition” in 2005 based on the
FIDIC Conditions of Contract, 1999. The MDB
Harmonized Edition is widely used for the projects
under those banks' finances. Therefore, JBIC wasconsidering revising the Sample Documents toreflect the FIDIC MDB harmonized Edition, taking theopportunity of consolidation with Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA) October
2008.
One of the biggest differences between the Red
Book 1987 (which is currently used for JBIC Sample
Bidding Documents) and 2005 (MDB Harmonized
Edition) is the DAB clauses; in 2005 Edition, DAB is
mandatory while it is an option in 1987 version.
However, DAB is considered as expensive
especially for their travel expense, because mostof the adjudicators are living in those countries far
apart from JICA ODA loan project countries:
mostly located in Asian region.
After revising the Sample Documents, the numberof projects with DAB is expected to increase

hence it is essential to promote training andqualifying DAB adjudicators for smooth
implementation of the projects in Asian region
where most JICA ODA loan projects are to be
performed. At the same time, those stakeholdersof the projects such as implementation agencies,
counterparts, contractors and consultants are
required to become familiar with DAB process.
Because of the situation described above, JBIC
conducted this study on, among other things:(1) Holding the seminars in and out of Japan
including preparation of the materials.
(2) Studying the promoting scheme of DAB
Adjudicators in Asian region.
2. Concept of a DAB
The Construction contracts are one of the typicalincomplete contracts because it is not possible todescribe all contingencies which may, or may not,occur during the course of construction. To copewith those contingencies, most standard forms of
construction contracts provide for 1) Risk Sharing
Rules, 2) Variation (Change) Rules and 3) Dispute
Resolution Rules. Nevertheless, a mere differenceof opinions of the parties in the interpretation of
the contract documents often develops to aserious dispute. If the parties fail to settle thedispute by negotiation, they may go to arbitration
or litigation. Every party wants to avoid arbitration
or litigation because they know how arbitration or
litigation takes time and needs substantial
expenses. Moreover, in the dispute situation, therelationship between the parties gets worse andthe project cannot be complete successfully (andsomeone will loose face in the end).

1 JBIC was consolidated with JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) in October 2008.

2

NEWS LETTER 2009
 Programs
For the training and continuous education ofqualified adjudicators, development andimplementation of three kinds of programs, i.e. “theadjudicator training program”, “continuous
education program”, and “DB popularization
program” is required. Furthermore, “the adjudicator
training program” would be composed of three
sub-programs, i.e. “introduction program”, “basic
program” and “practical program”.
 Qualification Requirements &. Certification System
About the Qualification screening, on account ofusing referees and other resources efficiently andkeeping the screening’s neutrality, the screening ispreferable to be held by the above-mentioned
training organization. Approving the screening,under the leadership of AJCE, FIDIC’s Member
Association in each country should take charge ofthe qualification registration and the maintenanceof the name lists.
 Training Lecturers
Candidates for lecturers can be DB adjudicators,
lawyers, arbitrators, experts (researchers) etc. The
lectures should be familiar with FIDIC’s contract
document and have abundant practicalexperiences in contract management and dispute
resolution under the FIDIC contract document.
Based on practical experiences, the employment ofexperienced talents of DB should be promoted. In
addition, it will be desirable to recruit the lecturers in
the Asian region from economical aspect.
 Training Fees
To implement training activities, such cost for 1)
establishment and maintenance of the training
institutions, 2) development of the materials for theeducation, and 3) holding seminars and training
courses are thought to be necessary. If we try tocover all these costs by the incomes from thestudents such as lecture fees and qualification
screening/registering fees, the students’ burden
might be so heavy that they may lose incentive of
seminar attendance and the screening. Therefore,
it can be said that the most practical way offinancial support is to expect from JICA and otherdevelopment finance organizations. Based on theabove-mentioned policy, an Action Plan wasmade for i)establishment of new training
organizations that aim at the training andqualification & certification of adjudicators andii)maintenance of National List by AJCE and FIDIC
Member Association.

The best way to resolve dispute is not to give rise toa serious dispute in the first place. Although theprimary task of a DAB is to give a decision on thematter of dispute between the parties, a DAB helps
the parties avoiding disputes from escalating.
A DAB (or DB) is made up of three (or one
depending on the size of a project) members who
are absolutely independent and impartial. DB is partof the construction team who assists the parties inavoiding claims and settling disputes by amicablenegotiations. If the parties fail to settle disputes, they
are to be referred to the DAB for recommendation
or decision. Since the DAB members are familiar
with the contract documents and the site operationand progress of the project, it will not take muchtime to judge the dispute. Even if the decision (orthe informal opinion/recommendation) is rejectedby one or both parties, it will be the basis for further
negotiation in an amicable manner. Thus, thebenefit of DB is prevention of disputes and early
settlement of disputes without adversarial attitudes.
3. The Promotion Plan of DAB Adjudicators in Asia Region
1) The training of adjudicator candidates will be
implemented based of the following policies.
 The Candidates of the Training
In Japan and Asia, the persons who are interest in
DB and can meet the minimum requirement canbe screened and considered as the candidates of
the Training. The screening criteria would be 1)
experience in overseas project, 2) language abilityof English, and 3) qualifications or experiences incontract management, dispute resolution,
arbitration etc.
 Facilities and Places of Training
In order to underline the leadership of Asian region
in the training program, it is preferable to establish
a new institution like a training center to support
training, qualification certification, disseminationand other activities in the Asian region. The
Graduate School of Management of Kyoto
University has a sub organization named theManagement Research Center which performs
various researching activities. At present, theestablishment of “Construction Law & Economics
Conference in Asian &. Pacific Rim” is being
planned by this center. Therefore, by making thisconference the mother body of the adjudicatorpromotion organization, it is possible to executethe adjudicator promotion program (seminar) andthe qualification certification workshop.

3NEWS LETTER 2009

Consulting and Cross Cultural Communication

Masayoshi Takeuchi
Director, AJCE
President, NJS Consultants Co., Ltd.

I have been engaged in the engineering
consulting business for over 30 years or so. During
those years I have seen how the engineering
consultancy industry has grown and expanded
its sphere of operations to reach out to newclients. The phenomenon of globalization, whichkicked off the advent of the information
revolution, coupled with the advancement of
information technology, has enabled us to teardown geo-political barriers and gain more clientsas more and more countries open up theirmarkets to liberal trade. With this, businessorganizations, such as our own, have forgedstrategic partnerships with other firms to takeadvantage of opportunities in local and foreign
market in order to attain our envisioned
objectives, which is to gain a wider and firmer
foothold in the ever expanding global market in
the consultancy industry.

conflicts brought about by miscommunications andmisunderstandings. According to Geoff French(2008), “if quality depends upon the ability tounderstand and meet our clients’ needs, thencommunication is the key to quality” (French,2008). Practicing cross cultural communication
among organizations would enable the people
within the business to recognize, interpret andcorrectly react to people, and situations that areopen to misunderstandings due to culturaldifferences.
Partnerships
Effective cross cultural communication between
firms develops trust and harmony. Harmonious
ties could lead to partnerships and suchpartnerships would be essential to businesses
especially in this age of rapid market expansions.
Developing strategic partnerships with other firms
would give each access opportunities todevelop professionally and grow networks.
Moreover, it would also help develop competitive
advantage over other rivals in the industry.
To conclude, I believe that the key for firms toeffectively take advantage of opportunities ofthe ever growing global market, the best tool isknowledge. Why? It is imperative that people
know and understand the problems of crosscultural communication and then make aconscious effort to resolve these problems.
Businesses and organizations should respond carefullyin cross cultural exchanges in order to prevent
conflicts that may arise from miscommunications andor misunderstandings. When these tasks have beenaccomplished, then we have taken a stepfurther to achieve global cultural competence.
References: French,G.,(2008). “Communication:
A Core Competency”

Breaking down Barriers through Cross Cultural Communication
It is without a doubt that globalization, together with
the internet, has changed the business environmentthat our consultancy firm operates in. As the industry
expands to various geographic locations and spans
numerous cultures, organizations have found it
difficult to understand how to communicate
effectively with people who come from different
socio-cultural backgrounds and have different
value systems. However, in our experience,
partnering with foreign firms has brought somedifficulties because of differences in culture,
particularly in the way we communicate. It would
therefore be important to practice cross culturalcommunication in order to facilitate or establish
more stable ties with foreign firms. With cross culturalcommunication, the consulting business shouldbe able to ensure smooth transactions and avoid

4NEWS LETTER 2009

Activities of ASPAC Sub-Committee in AJCE in the yearof 2008

Masakazu Maeda
Chief of Secretariat
ASPAC Sub-Committee of International Activity Committee, AJCECTI Engineering International Co., Ltd.

1. Introduction
ASPAC (FIDIC Asia-Pacific Member Associations)continued the activities based on our Action Planand other new issues, such as the capacity
development program and the young
professional forum, in the year of 2008. Also, we
had several meetings in the FIDIC/ASPAC
Conference at Seoul, Korea and FIDIC Annual
Conference at Quebec, Canada. This article
reviews our last year’s activities and presents
activities of this year that is remaining as our termof the ASPAC Secretariat until coming September.
Opening Ceremony in FIDIC/ASPAC Conference at Seoul(22 April 2008)

2. FIDIC/ASPAC Seoul Conference
The FIDIC/ASPAC Seoul Conference was held atSeoul, Korea in 22-25 April 2008, hosted by Korea
Engineering and Consulting Association (KENCA),and the theme of the conference was “Role ofEngineering in the Globalization Era.”
Approximately, 500 people participated from
Asia and Pacific region to discuss the role ofengineers in respect of design, construction andenvironmental issues and could share ourexperience and the knowledge.
Technical sessions were conducted in thefollowing three themes:• Solving the Disparity in Engineering Techniques;• Outsourcing: Human Resources; and• PPP & Procurement ofInternational Funding.
Mr. Akihiko Hirotani,
President of AJCE andChairman of ASPAC
chaired the Introductory
Session and presented“Infrastructure Project
Delivery Systems andRole of Consulting
Engineers in Japan”, in
President Hirotani speaks in
Introductory Session
the same Session. In thefirst two Technical Sessions, Mr. Kaoru Kariya ofTokyo Engineering Consultants Co. and Miss Eiko
Watatsu of Oriental Consultants Co., Ltd. madepresentations. It was remarkable that Mr.
Takayuki Ogai, Director General of Japan Bankfor International Cooperation (JBIC; presently
reorganized as Japan International Cooperation
Agency: JICA), attended the Conference andaddressed “Selection Methods of Consultants inJapan and Other Countries - JBIC’ Observation.”
The ASPAC Extra Meeting was held during theConference on 24th April 2008. We discussed ouractivities in 2007 and our future plan in terms of open
website, young professionals forum (YPF) of ASPAC
version, training of trainers by FIDIC, and participationin FIDIC Conference 2008 Quebec, etc.
3. FIDIC Annual Conference2008 at Quebec
The
FIDIC
AnnualConference was held at
Quebec, Canada in 7-10
September 2008 under
the theme “A strong
industry serving society.”
During the Conference,

5

ASPAC Extra Meeting(24 April 2008)

NEWS LETTER 2009
the ASPAC Executive Committee Meeting and
the General Assembly Meeting were held todiscuss the following three issues:◆ Capacity Development Program◆ ASPAC YPF (Young Professionals Forum)◆ Progress of the Action Plan
1) Capacity Development Program
ASPAC secretariat proposed a framework of
capacity development program for consulting
engineers and government officials in the zones
of most dynamic economic developments in
ASPAC that is composed of future goals, target
countries, methodology and role of each actor
related to the program. This concept actually
initiated by Dr. John Boyd, FIDIC President. The
program aimed at understanding of roles andresponsibilities of consulting engineers andgovernment officials, establishment of linkage
between local governments at ASPAC countries
and FIDIC member associations, and establishmentof sub-regional groups at ASPAC for implementationof continuous capacity development programs.
This framework was agreed in the ASPAC Executive
Committee Meeting on 7 September 2008.
The capacity development program wascontinuously discussed in the ASPAC Forum on thefollowing day, and representatives from India andAustralia informed that each association alreadyplanned or implemented a similar program by theirown resources in cooperation with FIDIC secretariat.
In addition, members of India, Indonesia, Pakistan
and Vietnam announced their candidacy for target
countries that would carry out the program.
Although the general direction of the program
had no objection, one of our proposals, i.e.
establishment of sub-regional groups at ASPAC
for implementation of continuous capacity
development programs and support of the otherfuture activities in ASPAC, was not agreed in the
ASPAC General Assembly Meeting on 9 September
2008. Also, it regrettably had not reached anagreement that the ASPAC secretariat would
decide the target countries for implementationof the program by consultation with FIDIC.
2) ASPAC YPF (Young Professionals Forum)
ASPAC YPF is a kind of capacity development
program for young consulting engineers. It was
proposed to set up the place for young
professionals particularly in ASPAC countries tocommunicate and enlighten each other. Since
FIDIC YPF has started their activities, ASPAC YPF
would be initiated based on that of FIDIC YPF
considering different viewpoints from European
countries and the United States. It was also
proposed that this forum would be managed bysub-regional groups because ASPAC covers
broad areas including a wide variety of races,
religions and cultures; however, it was notagreed by participants.
3) Progress of the Action Plan
The following events of ASPAC Action Plan 20072009 were reported in the Meetings:• Regular meetings are held twice a year.

ASPAC Executive Committee Meeting (7 September 2008)

ASPAC General Assembly Meeting (9 September 2008)

Special Presentation by Prof. Omoto (9 September 2008)

6

NEWS LETTER 2009
• There are two occasions: regular meetings at
FIDIC annual conference and FIDIC/ASPAC
annual conference. The former was inSingapore, and the latter was in Pakistan in2007 and Seoul in 2008.
• Newsletter and Website are utilized forcommunication with member associations.
• ASPAC Region News is issued periodically.
• The annual action plans and events of theMember Associations (MAs) are reported by email, newsletters and website.
• Directory of MAs are displayed on FIDIC web
site gradually.
The ASPAC Secretary additionally reported thatthey had received country reports from six MAs
before the Conference, and all members wereasked again to send back complete report to
ASPAC Secretariat. While this report has somequestionnaires about activity plans, policy issues,
demands for training program, and activities foryoung engineers in each member association, it
would be quite important for ASPAC to improveand promote their actions. Members agreed topromote the ASPAC Action Plan continuously
and activate communication among member
associations.
It should make special attention in the ASPAC
General Assembly Meeting that Professor Omoto
from Kyoto University had the presentation about“Promotion of adjudicators in Asian region and its
action plan.” He is a sole Japanese adjudicator
approved by FIDIC.
JBIC, Kyoto University and AJCE are promoting
training of adjudicators in Asian region. They had
seminars in Tokyo, Kyoto, Manila and Delhi, andin future they would have seminars in Hanoi,
Vietnam; Bangkok, Thailand and Denpasar,Indonesia. A delegate from Pakistan requested
Prof. Omoto to have a seminar in his country, andanother delegate suggested that the plan orinformation on this matter should be circulated in
ASPAC region. All members declared to support
the program for promotion of adjudicators in
Asian region.

requests for the program implementation.
Therefore, it was determined that the program
would be proceeded by each member
association who is interested in the program.
On the other hand, some of the steeringcommittee members of FIDIC YPF, such as
member from Iran, India, China and Japan, haveplayed a key role of ASPAC YPF activities. They
made an activity paper that describes
background, general direction, mission andobjectives, function and organization of ASPAC
YPF, and clearly states their required actions andtime schedule in the year of 2008 and 2009. Mr.
Takashi Nakajima, Steering Committee memberof FIDIC YPF, CTI Engineering International Co.,
Ltd., has joined in ASPAC Secretariat since
October 2008 and strengthened our activities toaccelerate the YPF actions.
The year of 2009 is the last year of our Action
Plan, and therefore the achievements in three
years will be reviewed and general directions of
the follow up actions of ASPAC will be proposed.
Additionally, problems on the establishment of an
ASPAC permanent secretariat will be identified
and sorted out, and solutions to these problems
will be suggested accordingly.
5. Acknowledgement
Through the discussions in the Meetings, I truly
realized that it was extremely difficult toformulate a common policy or purpose in theregion on the same ground. Under these toughcircumstances, the ASPAC Sub Committee shallconclude our mission in the present term toachieve the targets of the Action Plan incooperation with the secretariats of FIDIC and
AJCE. Finally, any advice and assistance for the
Sub Committee will be appreciated.

4. Current Status and Prospects of the Issues Related to
ASPAC Activities
With regard to the Capacity Development
Program, it was finally judged that demand for
implementation of the program was little among
ASPAC member associations. Because several
countries in ASPAC already started the similar
programs, ASPAC Secretariat received a few

FIDIC-YPF News Letter Introduces ASPAC-YPF

7

NEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008 at a glance8NEWS LETTER 20099NEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008

FIDIC President Visited JapanTo respond AJCE’s request since 2007, FIDIC
president, Dr. John Boyd and managing director,
Enrico Vink visited Japan from 28th February to 1th
March, 2008. On behalf of AJCE, I would like tothank Dr. Boyd and Enrico for their kind andconsiderate response to AJCE’s request.
Prior to the visit, they and Aki Hirotani, ASPAC
chair and AJCE president had meetings with ADB
as a part of meetings with MDBs. Agenda of themeeting were Government Procurement Integrity
Management System, sustainability considerations inprojects, capacity building and training program for
ADB staffs.
They firstly discussed with AJCE to exchange
views about activities of FIDIC and AJCE andmutual collaboration. Following the meeting with
AJCE, Dr. Boyd, Enrico, Aki Hirotani, vicepresidents Mr. Hatao & Mr. Uchimura and Yoshi
visited Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport
and Tourism (MLIT), Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sport and Technology (MEXT) and Japan Bankfor International Cooperation (JBIC). Briefsummary of the meetings were as follows:

From the left, Enrico Vink, FIDIC Managing Director,
John Boyd, FIDIC President,
Yoshi Yamashita, AJCE Secretary General
Hiroaki Taniguchi, MLIT Vice-minister for Engineering Affairs

101) Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)JBIC has been in charge of loan assistance inJapan Official Development Assistance (ODA)
since its establishment. They introduce FIDIC
Conditions of Contract (Red Book, 1987) in theirSample Bidding Document. They have been astrong advocate of QBS and FIDIC is counting on
their continuous initiatives. FIDIC invited directorgeneral of JBIC, Mr. Ogai and director, Mr. Miyao
to FIDIC Singapore conference. Mr. Ogai
presented policy on QBS in their loan agreementwith borrower countries. On Oct.1, 2008 JBIC
merged with Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) and operating as new JICA.
Deputy governor of JBIC, Mr. Morita welcomed
and thanked Dr. Boyd and Enrico for visiting JBIC
and inviting JBIC staffs to FIDIC Singapore
conference. He stressed the importance ofcollaboration between FIDIC, JBIC and AJCE. He
informed that JBIC will introduce FIDIC’s red
book, MDB version in their new sample bidding
documents. A half year after the meeting,NEWS LETTER 20093) Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport andTourism (MLIT)
Vice-minister for Engineering Affairs, Mr. Taniguchi
welcomed Dr. Boyd and Enrico and thanked visitof FIDIC president. MLIT is a major government
body for planning, implementing andmanagement of infrastructure in Japan. Mr.
Taniguchi mentioned visit of former FIDIC
presidents, Eigil Pedersen and Bill Lewis. He
explained that MLIT has been assistingdevelopment of infrastructure in developing
countries in Asia to cope with ever increasingneeds. They dispatched 195 engineers tooverseas and invited 921 trainees in 2006.
Consulting engineers have important role in thisrespect. He expects FIDIC’s initiative on capacity
building and training in such a manner that itraise standard of engineering capability.
Dr. Boyd explained FIDIC’s activities as
introduced at JBIC and MEXT. He stressed
contribution of FIDIC through BIMILACI, periodic
meetings with MDBs and training programs
offered for developing countries in Asia andPacific countries.
Opinions were exchanged as to how Japanese
consulting engineers successfully compete inoversea CE market. Dr. Boyd suggested that thekey to success depends on what you can give,then able to take fruits. Before closing Dr. Boyd
presented FIDIC’s major contract documents fortheir reference.

license agreement of MDB version was
concluded.
Dr. Boyd responded to Mr. Morita’s address that
FIDIC has been preparing best practices tointegrate these results in FIDIC’s training
programs. He further explained FIDIC’s review on
quality in relation to quality of deliverables,
integrity and sustainability. Outcomes of thesestudies will d respond to requests by MDBs and
JBIC as well. Dr. Boyd concluded by inviting JBIC
for FIDIC Quebec conference.
2) Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Technology(MEXT)The ministry of Education, Culture, Sport andTechnology (MEXT) is in charge of policies
relating education, culture, sports, anddevelopment of Science and technology suchas nuclear, space, DNA related research,physics, PE qualification and consulting practices.
AJCE has registered under MEXT in 1977.
Dr. Boyd introduced that over the half of
infrastructure development in the world dependon contributions by consulting engineers. In orderto provide good quality products, FIDIC has been
providing guidelines and manuals for quality
assurance, integrity management, capacity
building and sustainability consideration on
projects. These products are applied in FIDIC’s
training programs.
Mr. Iwase, Deputy director-general of MEXT
introduced government policy for promotion andmanagement on P.E. qualification, and APEC
Engineers which promotes mutual accreditationof engineering qualification among Asia andPacific countries.

AJCE owes many thanks to Dr. Boyd and Enrico
for sparing their precious time for promotion of
CE industry to influential government entities inJapan. They hear voice of FIDIC andacknowledge contribution of AJCE in this regard.

11NEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008

AJCE Annual Seminar 2008
Annual seminar is one of the most important
events of AJCE for Continued Professional
Development of members. Annual seminar 2008
was held on 15 July, 2008 entitled as “RiskManagement in Consulting Practices”. The main
theme was selected under the circumstances that
more employers tend to impose larger amount ofliability on consulting engineers in oversea
projects. In addition, new type of risks has started
arising in the increased number of new
procurement methods. In particular, procurementof infrastructure development projects by PPP or
Design- Build methods.

The annual seminar was planned and carried out
as how CEs can reduce or avoid risks having
understanding various risk factors. AJCE invited
experts from outside of CE industry and requested
presentations regarding i) Check points in risk
management from lawyers standpoint, ii) Updateof Professional Indemnity insurance - views frominsurance expert, iii) How CEs cope with risks.
At the outset of the seminar, president of AJCE,

Mr. Akihiko Hirotani addressed that risk
management (or lawsuit) and professional
indemnity insurance are not familiar withJapanese consulting engineers. However, they are
becoming inevitable and important matter inoversea projects. Circumstances observed outsideof Japan will affect domestic market in near
future. Mr. Hirotani urged experts to disclose theirvaluable experience in the seminar.
Outline of the Seminar
The seminar was composed of 4 presentations
and discussions with the floor followed.
1) Necessity of Risk Management
Mr. Keisuke Sumikawa, Senior engineer from
Nippon Koei presented necessity of risk
management from the view point ofmanagement of a firm and business profit. In
this context, he explained importance in theprocess of risk management and administrative
structure in a firm and concluded that properrisk management results in higher business profit.

12

NEWS LETTER 2009
2) FIDIC’s Undertaking on Risk Management
Mr. Toshio Kurashige, vice chair of International
Activity Committee, AJCE and corresponding
member of FIDIC’s Risk and Liability Committee(RLC) presented undertakings of risk
management in FIDIC RLC. Mr. Kurashige
explained scope of responsibility and limit ofliability in the light of FIDIC’s Condition ofContracts. He also introduced concept ofInformed Purchaser which directly affects qualityof deliverables, thus reduces risk.

4) Practice in Professional Indemnity Insurance
Mr. Tamotsu Sato, Senior vice president, MarshJapan, Inc. introduced Professional Indemnity (PI)insurance as an expert of providing insurance
service. He explained outline of the insurance,
reasons for buying the insurance, contents ofguarantee and immunity reason. To facilitate
understandings of PI insurance, he explained
casualties which are retained or hedged (dumpon insurance). As examples, he disclosed someclaim cases and introduced recent trend of
insurance in relation to limited cost, insurance
charge and out-of-pocket expense.

3) Risk Management from Lawyer’s Standpoint
Lawyer, Ms. Yoshiko Koizumi presented risk
management in oversea consulting projects fromlawyer’s standpoint. She introduced risks not onlyin subject countries but also risk factors on
consultants. She showed important check points
such as i) writing down the clause on Wavier ofSovereign Immunity in contract document, ii)
condition of arbitration (location, regulation,
name of arbitrator), iii) confirmation of thegoverning law. To reduce risks, she pointed out toi) understand contents of contract documents, ii)
share information and experience about risks, iii)
strengthen capacity of persons in charge of legal
matters.

Remarks
Vice president of AJCE, Mr. Miyamoto concluded
the seminar by addressing following remarks.
Though risk management is considered as animportant matter for consulting practice, majority ofparticipants were not aware of risk management on
legal and insurance aspects.
We found some of participants’ surprise as they
were informed of various risks through the seminar.
As can be seen in CE industry in other developed
countries, we have to start integrating legal andinsurance considerations in domestic and oversea
projects. It seemed that the seminar could provide
a chance to realize various risks and usefulcountermeasures.

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