Japan Centers
July 2011
1. About the Japan Centers
(1) The Japan Centers offer technical assistance aimed at cultivating and training personnel who are expected to play an important role in the Russian economy and Japan-Russia economic relations. Established by the Government of Japan from 1994 onward in six cities in the Russian Federation* as part of its assistance for market economy reforms in Russia, the Japan Centers offer a range of management and Japanese courses. Management courses and "training in Japan" offered by the Japan Centers are characterized as part of the assistance the Government of Japan provides for the Business Manager Training Program, which was announced in July 1997 by Mr. Boris Yeltsin, then Russian President. In order to provide training that better meets the needs of the Russian side, the Japan Centers consult with the Russian side every year to develop an annual training plan.
Since 1994, a total of some 49,000 people have taken courses offered by the Japan Centers and about 3,900 people have come to Japan for training.
* The first Japan Center was established in October 1994 within the Moscow International Higher Business School (MIRBIS), Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. The successive establishment of a Japan Center was achieved in Khabarovsk in November 1994, in Vladivostok in April 1996, in Sakhalin in September 1996, within the Moscow State University in January 2001, in Saint Petersburg in March 2001, and in Nizhny Novgorod in October 2001.
(2) The activities of the Japan Centers are based on the Japan-Russia Action Plan, which was jointly issued in January 2003 by Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, then Prime Minister of Japan, and Mr. Vladimir Putin, then President of Russia when Prime Minister Koizumi visited Russia. The Action Plan stated: "Both sides [Japan and Russia] will accelerate their work towards the prompt signing of a new memorandum on activities of the Japan Centers, which will stipulate their functions, including the promotion of bilateral trade and economic exchange."
This led to the signing of a memorandum on the activities of Japan Centers in June 2003 by Mrs. Yoriko Kawaguchi, then Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Mr. Viktor Borisovich Khristenko, then Deputy Prime Minister of Russia. The Japan Centers now conduct programs aimed at promoting economic exchange between Japan and Russia in addition to traditional technical assistance programs. Furthermore, the Cooperation Program that confirmed the continuation of cooperation by the Government of Japan for the Russian Federation's presidential programs, including the Business Manager Training Program, was signed when Mr. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, then President of Russia visited Japan in November 2005. The Cooperation Program called for closer cooperation between the two countries for the activities of the Japan Centers.
2. Activities of Japan Centers
(1) Circuit seminars (including training in Japan) and OJT
Based on the needs of the Russian side, the Japan Centers offer circuit seminars for young business managers and businesspeople to gain knowledge and practical skills needed to consolidate a market economy. The fields covered include management, finance, trade, and marketing. Experts in these fields from Japan hold a seminar in three locations. Participants with outstanding performance are given an opportunity to visit Japan to learn the practical aspects of economic activity in Japan. At the request from the Russian side, the Japan Centers have also offered on-the-job training (OJT) since FY2004. OJT combines company visits and internships for more efficient learning.
(2) Local seminars
Each Japan Center designs and organizes a range of management courses that better accommodate the needs and characteristics of the area where it is located, while gaining support from local authorities and educational institutions.
(3) Business Japanese courses
The Japan Centers offer business Japanese courses primarily for working adults who are expected to play an important role in Japan-Russia economic relations, including business managers who are interested in Japan. The Japan Centers also provide support for Japanese culture events and international exchange events that are organized by Japanese diplomatic missions in their areas.
(4) Programs aimed at promoting economic exchange between Japan and Russia
The Japan Centers also proactively conduct business matching activities by taking advantage of the human networks involving the associations of business managers and businesspeople who have participated in a circuit seminar (including training in Japan) or OJT they offer. These activities include creating opportunities for individual companies or economic missions of either country that visit the other country to interact with their business partners there.
Starting in June 2004, the Japan Centers have served as the Japanese branch of the Japan-Russia Trade and Investment Promotion Organization and played three major roles in Russia: (i) providing institutional and corporate information; (ii) offering consulting services, including business support; and (iii) extending dispute settlement assistance. In FY2010, the Japan Centers engaged in 1,634 cases of providing institutional and corporate information, 1,211 cases of offering consulting services, and 23 cases of extending dispute settlement assistance, for companies of either country, as well as 227 cases of supporting the acceptance of the missions of Japanese companies in Russia or the sending of Russian companies to Japan.
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