AOTS Journal 2018 AUTUMN No.13 (ENGLISH)

12/18

JOURNAL10Introduction to AMEICC program: Cases in Myanmar, Lao PDR and Cambodia‘Japan’s Monodzukuri Engineering Course’ (endowed course) held in Thanlyin Technological UniversityThe government of Japan, in concert with the government of Myanmar, has been developing the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, hereafter SEZ, south of Yangon, as public-private collaboration since 2014 in order to help Myanmar’s sustainable economic growth. With the expectation that companies will bring production facilities to the SEZ, there is strong demand for personnel with sufcient engineering knowledge. AOTS, with the great support of the Embassy of Japan in Myanmar, JETRO, the Myanmar-Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as Thanlyin Technological University, started an endowed course to teach the manufacturing technologies and business manners commonly practiced in Japanese corporations at a university near to the SEZ in November 2017. The endowed course, with more frequent exchange between the university and businesses, such as dispatching of instructors, factory visits, acceptance of internships, etc., is aimed at building networks and condence between the university and Japanese expatriate corporations in the SEZ.Dr. Thein Gi, Rector of the university, gave the following words to us: ‘We want to see more students get jobs at the SEZ. Most of all, it is our mission to nurture more students who can show their capabilities immediately so that they can get jobs in Japanese afliate companies.’ Intensive SessionIn order to learn how to operate made-in-Japan logical control units employed by Japanese afliates in the SEZ and other topics, a two-week intensive session was held, and all the attendees could achieve higher-than-passing mark scores in the nal examination. Through this opportunity, we are expecting the attendees to learn how to utilize Japanese logical control units, as at present the operation has been taught at the university using non-Japanese equipment.During the sessions, an in-house power generator had to be started due to a power blackout, which resulted in a disturbing mechanical sound from the generator; however, the session was able to continue with all the windows closed, but all the students could keep their concentration. Sessions during semesterFor deepening of their understanding of Japanese business etiquette, we invited Japanese top executives as well as local middle management to introduce their businesses and this resulted in a higher interest in Japanese expatriates in the SEZ among the students. Our student survey results prove this: those who answered ‘Greatly interested in working at Japanese expatriate corporations’ had been 44% before the session but increased to 72% after the session. InternshipWith the cooperation of Japanese expatriate corporations in the SEZ, twenty students were selected to undertake a ve-day internship program. We collected the following impressions from the students: ‘I could understand roles of various jobs other than engineers such as administration, marketing as well as manager’, ‘it turned out to be a good opportunity to think about my own selection of work’ and others, suggesting it was a very good event for them. Job Fair Following the graduation examination in September, we held a job fair inside the university with exhibition of Japanese corporations in the SEZ.For your information, as of writing this, the attendees of the session (6th graders) are going to graduate in December, no one has been selected to work at a Japanese corporation in the SEZ so far, though we are hoping to hear good news very soon. A session during semester: students paying attention to a presentation by delegates of a Japanese expatriate corporation in the Thilawa SEZ.Intensive session: hands-on class using made-in-Japan logical control units Thanlyin Technological University (TTU)•Founded 1986. Located near the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, TTU is one of representative engineering universities of Myanmar.•TTU has nine departments including civil engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering.•Total student enrollment: About 4,700; About 750 by grade•Years of schooling: Six Thilawa Special Economic Zone•25 kilometers from downtown Yangon; 1-1.5 hour drive•5 kilometers or 10-minute drive from Thanlyin Technological UniversityOutline of Sessions Thanlyin Technological University