AOTS Journal 2019 SPRING No.14 (ENGLISH)

2/18

I would like to extend my New Year greetings to all readers of the Journal.This issue of the Journal is the last in the ‘Heisei era.’ While we will literally welcome a new era this year, AOTS will also celebrate its sixtieth anniversary. We owe everything to the warm support of governments in and outside of Japan, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, in particular, industries and businesses, academia as well as local communities. Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for their help and cooperation. As previously announced in the Journal, we are planning to hold celebratory events as well as to host the tenth World Convention of AOTS Alumni Societies in Tokyo, with delegates from various AOTS alumni societies around the world, from 31 July to 2 August.Recently, circumstances around industries are changing all the time; the use of information technology including AI has become an urgent challenge in industries and we see ongoing efforts by both the private and public sector alike to make such IT, including IoT, Industry 4.0, and Society 5.0, to just name a few, propel further economic growth in coming years. Such trends in the world have become key words in operations at AOTS as well as at alumni societies’ activities. We understand that the importance of human resources will grow more than ever in relevant elds.AOTS, with its record of over half a century of dedication to industrial growth and friendship between Japan and the rest of the world through human resource development, is now, by making full use of its globally expanding human network as represented by AOTS Alumni Societies, determined to respond to needs arising around the world from new elds of industrial technologies. As we enter a new year and the turning point of our sixtieth anniversary, we are determined to pursue a new kind of social contribution and further possibilities in the future.Looking forward to seeing your further support and guidance to us in this year as well,Sincerely,Shinya KuwayamaPresident, AOTSMessage from President of AOTSMr. Shinya Kuwayama, President, AOTSAssociation Overview• NameThe Association for Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable PartnershipsAbbreviated name: AOTS• EstablishedAugust 10, 1959• Activities Provides training for industrial human resources mainly in developing countries as well as dispatches experts mainly to developing countries• Scale of operations Approximately JPY 10,100,000,000 (budget for FY2018) 1) Training Programs in Japan: 230 courses and 4,140 participants2) Overseas Training Programs: 23 courses and 900 participants3) Experts Dispatch Programs: 340 expertsOther Programs including Internships• Total number of participants/experts/interns1) Training Programs in Japan: 190,578 (cumulative total as of FY2017)2) Overseas Training Programs: 201,966 (cumulative total as of FY2017)3) Experts Dispatch Programs: 9,230 (cumulative total as of FY2017)4) Internship Programs: 1,260 (cumulative total as of FY2017)• Ofces1) Japan: Tokyo, Osaka City, and Toyota City2) Overseas: Bangkok, Jakarta, New Delhi and Yangon