AOTS Journal 2018 SPRING No.12 (ENGLISH)

14/18

JOURNAL12Federation of Southeast Asian AOTS Alumni Societies (FOSAAS)Federation of Latin American AOTS Alumni Societies (FELAAS)Inter-regional Cooperation among AOTS Alumni SocietiesRegional Federations of AOTS Alumni SocietiesAOTS Alumni Societies are NGOs as they have were organized voluntarily by returned former trainees from Japan in their respective countries based on their common experiences in their training days. These societies are both contributing to the economic/industrial progress of their home countries and enhancing friendly relations with Japan.These societies have formed AOTS regional federations in the six areas of Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. Each federation is actively promoting its activities such as by holding regular regional meetings. This issue of Journal provides information on the latest meetings of regional federations in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Latin America.On October 20, 2017, the thirteenth FOSAAS meeting was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with the participa-tion of 31 delegates from 10 societies in seven countries: Malaysia (KL and Penang), Indonesia (Jakarta and Medan), Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines (Manila and Visayas) and Vietnam. After reports from each society, the delegates discussed how to strengthen their regional coop-eration as well as their cooperation with AOTS in a very active manner. They adopted a resolution that a newsletter for FOSAAS members would be published on Facebook with the initiative of the steering society of this meeting, Persatuan Alumni AOTS Malaysia (PAAM). They also resolved that Facebook should be used as a common plat-form for all relevant members beyond the scope of soci-eties. They also decided that Himpunan Alumni AOTS Indonesia(HAAI)-Jakarta Central Board would steer the next meeting.On November 6 and 7, 2017, the thirteenth FELAAS meeting was held in Lima, Peru, with eleven delegates from 10 societies of 8 countries: Peru, Argentina, Brazil (Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro), Chile, Ecuador, Mexico (Mexico City and Monterey), Paraguay and Venezuela. In line with AOTS’s policy of strengthening collaboration among alumni societies, FELAAS and respective member coun-tries conrmed their aim of pursuing more active cooperation in various programs. Dissemination of 5S and Kaizen is a common subject amongst FELAAS members and 5S conventions have been organized under the auspices of the societies in Peru, Argentina, and Mexico. In parallel with the meeting, the fourth 5S national convention was being held by the Peruvian society and the winners were awarded gold, silver and bronze medals. In addi-tion, a 5S expert from Chennai, India, was invited under the WNF scheme and the audience could learn about cases of 5S and Kaizen in India in his keynote lecture. The delegates decided to launch a 5S technical committee in order to formulate common criteria to measure 5S performance for the future organizing of Latin American 5S conventions.A ceremony to mark the change of the chairmanship: chairman of PAAM (third from the right) and vice chairman of the HAAI-Jakarta (fourth from the right)From the third from the left on the front row, chairman of Peru alumni society (chair of this meeting), Senior Managing Director Tateishi, chairman of Monterey alumni society (chair of the next meeting)