JICE hosted an exchange session between newly employed Japanese Government administrators and the JDS Fellows from ASEAN countries in two batches on June 19^th and June 20th, 2018 respectively, in collaboration with National Personnel Authority of Japan.

With an aim to foster mutual understanding and to provide clues about how to build future cooperative relationships between Japan and the ASEAN countries, this mutual learning session was organized and attended by a total of 107 Japanese participants and 22 JDS Fellows studying at graduate schools across Japan. The session consisted of three parts.

In the first part, JDS Fellows from Myanmar and Vietnam made a presentation about the tasks in each organization they belong to as well as their study outcome in Japan, followed by many questions from the Japanese side about the challenges faced by each country and the Fellows’ views on how to solve them. All the participants seemed to be highly motivated to discuss various issues with each other. “Their presentations gave me an insight into the development challenges that Myanmar and Vietnam have to tackle with.”, said a Japanese participant from Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

In the second part, the participants were randomly divided into seven combined groups of Japanese administrators and JDS Fellows and each group was asked to choose any theme for discussion from those given by JICE such as food security, women’s empowerment, natural disaster and English education. Each group enthusiastically engaged in discussing how best they can cooperate with each other to solve the common challenges. They were also able to clarify and summarize the problems of their own countries and to compare them with those of other countries.

In the last part, each group presented their policy proposals to tackle the common agenda they discussed in the second part. There was a lively exchange of views and comments among all the participants. For most of the Japanese administrators, this was a fresh opportunity to access to updated information about the ASEAN countries.

Following are some of the feedback from the participants:

-This was a very informative opportunity for me. I could understand the difference in the values of each country. (A Japanese participant from Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

-This event motivated me to consider how to cooperate with the ASEAN countries to tackle with our common issues. (A Japanese participant from Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry)

-This event was effective and practical for building good relationships between Japan and the ASEAN countries. (A JDS Fellow)

-The time for the session was a bit short to deepen discussion. We need more time for discussion next time. (A JDS Fellow)

We believe that this was a timely opportunity for boosting mutual understanding and building cooperative relationship between Japan and ASEAN countries as the ASAEN moves towards deeper integration.

With the mission to bring Japan and the world closer together, JICE will make further efforts to connect Japan and the JDS participating countries.

Chie Terashita

　　　International Student Programs Division

　　　　　　　　　　　International Student Programs Department I