AOTS Journal 2017 AUTUMN No.11 （ENGLISH)

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JOURNAL10Here is a Q&A on AMEICC Projects:Introduction to AMEICC Projects An endowed university courseA job fair was conducted at the National University of Laos. 39 companies, including those afliated with Japan, and nearly 900 students participated in the event. Company representatives were attentively listening to questions from students.Q1 What is “AMEICC”?A1 AMEICC was established in 1998 according to the endorse-ment of the ASEAN-Japan Summit Meeting held in Malaysia in 1997.AMEICC stands for “ASEAN Economic Ministerial Meeting - Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI) Economic and Industrial Cooperation Committee” and is an economic and industrial cooperation committee organized based on a meeting between economic ministers of ASEAN countries and Japan. After economic policies are recommended by the Economic Ministers Meeting between Japan and ASEAN countries to increase the competitiveness among ASEAN coun-tries and promote industrial cooperation between Japan and them, AMEICC implements specic economic and industrial coopera-tion projects in line with the policies.Q2 What roles does the AOTS play for AMEICC?A2 In AMEICC, separate working groups (hereinafter referred to as “WGs”) are formed to work on specic themes (e.g., auto-mobiles, IT, chemicals, SME promotion measures, and human resource development) to effectively implement economic and industrial cooperation projects so that the respective WGs can hold their own meetings for developing the plans. These plans prepared by individual WGs are discussed at a high-level consul-tation between Japan and ASEAN countries, and then consensuses are formed at the Japan-ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting, which is held every year. This WG-based development of proj-ects has been an essential pillar of AMEICC since its foundation. The AMEICC Secretariat, engaged in making the whole series of necessary arrangements, related clerical work, and communication and coordina-tion work, is set up inside the Bangkok Ofce of the AOTS, whereas the AOTS’s AMEICC Secretariat Support Department in Tokyo provides clerical support and cooperation, mainly in the area of budget management.Furthermore, the AOTS also takes on the responsibility of implementing specic projects, as those provided in A3.Q3 Could you tell us in detail about the specic AMEICC Projects in which the AOTS is involved?A3 After FY2015, we have been mainly implementing the following two projects:One is open-type projects of various kinds aimed at inviting future-oriented investment in ASEAN (known as “Nurturing New Industry through ASEAN-Japan Innovation Network”), such as demonstration projects leading to the creation of new industries in ASEAN and Japan, and a business matching sympo-sium attended by economic ministers of the 10 ASEAN countries.The other is the project for human resource development for industry in ASEAN (known as “the project for training ASEAN for industrial upgrading”), aiming at expanding business invest-ments between Japan and ASEAN. This project includes three sub-cluster programs: The rst program is targeted at Japanese companies operating in the region (known as “ASEAN by ASEAN”), which has been explained in previous pages; the second program, those involved in infrastructure projects; while the third is the endowed university course program.The ultimate goal of the program for the development of infrastructure-related human recourses (known as “capacity building for quality infrastructure”) is to help promote high quality infrastructure in ASEAN countries. To that end, from an early stage of infrastructure system project planning, this program provides project related personnel with the understanding of the advantages of Japan’s advanced technologies. As such, we have organized training in Japan, sent Japanese experts to and held local seminars in the region.The endowed university course program is purposed for assisting smooth business operations of Japanese companies in ASEAN, and promoting cooperation between Japan and ASEAN countries. The goals are achieved by developing local human resources with practical skills, who are sought after by the locally operating Japanese-afliated companies, and motivating local students to work for such companies. In addition, we have been carrying out lectures, internship programs, and job fairs in the region. This program helps develop students whose potentials are high enough to be “work-ready” in Japanese-afliated compa-nies, and a framework encouraging university graduates to work for such companies. An endowed university courseStudents dismantling an engine to learn about its structure at BINUS ASO School of Engineering (BASE) in Indonesia.Human resource development for the infrastructure sectorManagers from the Myanmar Ministry of Transport and Communications and Myanmar Railways participated in a two-day seminar on management reforms at Myanmar Railways. Following participants’ presentations on reform proposals for their own organizations, participants are receiving advice from experts.