[ Farewell ] Kei Kitamura,Course Leader, International Department I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for their guidance and encouragement in the six years since I joined the Secretariat in April 2007. PREX was established on the grand aspirations of business people in Kansai, on the passion for regional development and on consensus views and cooperation among industry, academia and government. Through my work spanning six years, I was able to come into contact with the grand aspirations and passion of those people active on the front lines both at home and abroad, and it has been an invaluable experience. I will now become a PREX “old boy,” and I will pray for and welcome PREX’s steady development, together with the wish to continue maintaining these links as before,

I took part in the Kankeiren ASEAN Mission from Feb. 10 to 16. My extremely hectic schedule came as a shock, as it had me holding informal talks with Indonesia’s Vice President and three Cabinet ministers of industry, trade and economic affairs on the first day. It was a similar situation in Singapore and Thailand, with informal talks planned with important government officials at my destinations. Notably in Thailand, an informal talk with Prime Minister Yingluck had been arranged. The efforts made by Kankeiren’s Secretariat together with how the different countries are focusing on Japan hit home to me.

Also planned were informal talks with local chambers of commerce formed by Japanese companies in Jakarta, Singapore and Bangkok. They all agreed on the necessity of human-resource development for middle managers.

In the 24 years since its founding, PREX has handled a grand total of 15,000 seminar participants via seminars in Japan involving Kankeiren seminars for managers in ASEAN, JICA’ seminars in Japan for developing countries and local seminars in developing countries made possible by the dispatch of specialists. However, I sensed the need for further activities in human-resource development.

During its recent trip, Kankeiren signed a cooperation agreement with the Federation of Thai Industries. One of its three pillars cites human-resource development. It states: “We are cooperating and tackling human-resource development in the fields of fostering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), environmental conservation and preservation, energy saving, and so on.” I would like to cooperate with Kankeiren and take up the challenge of new human-resource development initiatives as an achievement of the document's signing.

After the official events ended, I explained PREX’s activities separately with the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Bangkok, along with the Kankeiren Secretariat, and we explored the possibility of having some form of affiliation. Around that time, I received information that a scaled-down MBA at the Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology and the Japan-Thailand Economic Cooperation Society was being planned. I would like this to have an affiliation with the Kankeiren Secretariat and that it have some sort of concrete form in the future.

In the interludes between working through the schedule of each survey, I managed to observe at least one site of historical heritage! I used my break to go to Ahsan Manzil. Nicknamed the “Pink Palace,” this building was constructed as a facility for the French, although leading up to the country’s independence, it apparently had been used as a residence for the Nawab family, which ruled Dhaka at the time. There is a fee to enter the garden, but even so it was still filled with couples and students, as it seems to have become a spot for dates and relaxation for Dhaka’s residents.
Meanwhile, a dozen or so female junior high-school students crowded around me for some reason, and then we all took pictures. I guess they had wanted to speak English with a foreigner, but it showed the power of the female students. The country has a female prime minister, while in Bangladesh the improvement in women’s status is often raised as an issue. So I was able to get a sparkling look at the future of this country in the energy of its women.

Various mishaps emerged in the process that led to the business discussions. With the trade show only one day away, the products still hadn’t arrived in Japan! There had been a mistake, and the products had been sent off to Europe! Where should we buy cups for the tastings? …What’s that? The ambassadors of the exhibiting countries would be making sudden visits to the venue?! Half the products can’t be used because they’re spoiled! I (a seminar participants from a public institution) will be interacting with the customers! Many different things happened. Promptly giving up their Sundays, seminar participants, office staff members and a customs official with an interpreter were engaged in the tightrope act of going all the way to Narita Airport, getting customs clearance for the products and carrying them by hand right before they were due to be exhibited. After all that, when the discussions actually took place, our emotions were especially profound.

（Yoshiyasu Hamaguchi, International Department）

What did the seminar participants from Myanmar who came to Japan actually feel about Japan?

In their descriptions of Japan, they mentioned such keywords: “diligent,” “teamwork,” “punctual,” “organized,” “harmonious,” “creative,” “innovative,” “high-tech,” and so on. There were also comments that would make a Japanese person blush, such as: “Although the country has been success with its industrialization, it takes care of its history and culture while not neglecting its sensitive spirit.”

Their views made me reflect on how Japan is portrayed to the people of the world. Conversely, I get the sense that I’ve learned we should maintain Japan’s merits. As for Myanmar’s merits, what would they be? I would like to verify this using my own eyes, rather than relying on the images reported by the media only. So I would like to visit the seminar participants I met this last time around in search of answers.

(Miura,International Department)

Shogo Asanuma, General Manager, International Department March 16, 2012 From Panasonic Corporation I have been engaged in sales of professional displays and systems for both the public sectors and private companies, planning and CSR matters in procurement, information systems and logistics sections, etc. My work responsibilities have brought me into contact with large numbers of clients, suppliers and partners. Even so, I am excited over my future opportunities for making new contacts and exchanges at PREX through seminar planning and management for people overseas. I look forward to working with all of you.

Yoshio Takezawa, General Manager, International Department March 31, 2012 From Panasonic Corporation Two and a half years have passed since I joined in November 2009. I have been put in charge of 11 seminars in Japan, giving me the chance to make the acquaintance of 137 seminar participants. I also grappled with the construction of seminar programs that meet the needs of the participants. Yet I have nothing but happy memories of it all. Furthermore, meeting large numbers of executives at small and medium-sized enterprises, consultants, university professors and JICA’ s international cooperation specialists through the seminars have provided me with a succession of fresh learning opportunities and valuable experiences. I sincerely pray that activities and organizations like PREX, which assist in the fostering of human resources in developing countries, will further develop in constructive ways. Thank you very much.

Miyuki Nishizaka, Course Planner, International Department I would like to give my heartfelt gratitude to everyone for their kind guidance and encouragement in the four years since I joined the bureau in April 2008. The great deal of ground covered in the themes -- corporate management, productivity improvements, regional industrial promotion, small and medium-sized enterprise promotion, and so on -- involved over 40 different countries. There were different objectives, content and situations in each of them, and as I consulted with instructors, corporate representatives and seminar participants, each day that progressed toward an objective was a valuable and stimulating experience. In particular, I am filled with gratitude toward the company people and instructors who taught me, with my inexperience, so many things. With everything you have taught me in stored in my heart, I will endeavor to apply this knowledge in the future to person-to-person exchanges in the field of sports.

I visited two countries in Central America (Costa Rica and Nicaragua) in autumn, 2010. I had been in charge of two seminar courses, on Trade Promotion and Regional Promotion in the Central America region, during its initial year, which afforded me the opportunity to visit. In the last four years, the number of alumni members of these two courses has become 29 in the two countries. About 70 percent of them, 18 people, came out to see us, saying such things as, “Our honored teacher has arrived!” and, “We can meet with our old PREX members!” All of them reported to us with pride that they had put the content learned in Japan to good use and have been working hard since returning home. This was the first opportunity for past alumni members to gather under the same roof. Every day, we made visits to related organizations and companies and observed regional areas. Some of the alumni members offered a car while at the same time acting as our guide. During the drives or over meals, they told us of their countries’ economies, cultures and societies. So these former seminar participants who have returned home were valuable navigators in each of the countries. In the Regional Promotion course in September last year, we conducted a follow-up on participants who have returned home, using TV conferences. Twenty-eight of the 41 people from seven countries who participated during the four years of the course attended. Through this visit through time and space, we were reunited with the old members, including alumni we met two years ago and others we met for the first time since their return home. Our time together may have been limited to three hours, but we were able to confirm that the alumni members are set to become a more cohesive group in the future and that they are working hard for the economic development of the Central America region. As a PREX representative, I would like to see the bonds strengthened in the future with the alumni members through such “exchanges with a human face.”

Every now and then, we receive emails like the following: “I’m going to launch this kind of activity as an assistance measure for small and medium-sized enterprises”; or, “I’m studying overseas to upgrade my skills as an administrative official.” Seminar participants who have returned home and are working hard and seriously provide us with encouragement when we ask ourselves whether “the experience and knowledge from Japan has been useful.” From the summer of my third year in high school, I started to develop an interest in international cooperation, so it was “fate” that I was hired by PREX, and now four years have passed. During those four years, I have searched on a daily basis for “that which can be done” as I struggle and think about what things might be useful for seminar participants and their countries. In the week that followed the Great East Japan Earthquake, we received messages of support for Japan from seminar participants every day. Many emails arrived several hours after the quake struck on March 11, so I knew about the size of the disaster before confirming it on the news after getting home from work. As assistance from various countries is being reported by the media, the assistance Japanese people have continued to provide has borne fruit for establishing emotional attachments to Japan. Furthermore, PREX’s 20 years of activities have not only been for the sake of developing countries, but I also sense their strong power for fostering emotional attachments to Japan and to the Kansai region. So for the sake of developing countries, and in turn for Japan and Kansai, I would like to continue my day-to- day efforts while considering what I am capable of doing.