Message from President

The Association for Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnerships (AOTS) is a general incorporated foundation that undertakes international economic cooperation, particularly important technical cooperation in the development of industrial human resources principally in developing by accepting trainees in Japan, dispatching experts overseas for training and technical guidance, and offering Industry-Academia collaborative programs at overseas educational institutions. Since its establishment in 1959 as the Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS), a private-sector organization for technical cooperation which accepted 43 international technical trainees in its first year of operation, AOTS has continued to work tirelessly for more than 60 years, during which it merged with the Japan Overseas Development Corporation (JODC), while collaborating with private companies and other sources of industrial human resources in Japan. AOTS has been developing industrial human resources in a wide range of fields, including industrial technologies such as machinery, automobiles, electrical and electronics, and business management such as quality control and production management, as well as low-carbon and zero-emission technologies, digital transformation (DX), and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years. In terms of performance by region, we have expanded from our initial focus on Asia to developing countries around the world, including Africa, where we have been putting more efforts in recent years, and the number of trainees in Japan and overseas has reached a cumulative total of approximately 450,000.

Throughout its technical cooperation in the private sector, AOTS has focused on building human connections and growing together in a relationship of mutual equality, fostering and strengthening friendly relations with overseas countries. As a result, former trainees who have returned to their home countries have voluntarily established 74 AOTS Alumni Societies in 45 countries/regions. The existence of these unique alumni societies and the alumni societies' partnership with AOTS projects, local Japanese language education, and the organization of domestic conventions on the so-called 5S have been among the major achievements of AOTS's activities.

With the recent globalization of business activities and the need to improve resilience through further coordination of global supply chains, as well as the growing economic and political importance of developing countries symbolized by the term “Global South,” we believe that it will become increasingly important to fulfill our mission of “realizing a world in which we 'Live in Harmony Together, Grow Together' through human resource development."

With the “development of industrial human resources” including engineers and management experts at the core, we will continue to contribute to the enhancement of industrial human resources needed both in Japan and overseas through projects such as not only our traditional technical cooperation but also cooperation involving developing countries as a third country, support for globalization of Japanese human resources, and support for overseas human resources to play active roles in Japanese society, and strive to realize our objective of “promoting mutual economic development and friendly relations between Japan and overseas countries.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020, our activities supported by human ties were severely impacted, even as new efforts were made such as implementing full-scale remote training. The support of everyone involved, both in Japan and abroad, is vital not only for recovery from the pandemic, but also for the further development of our activities. We would greatly appreciate your ongoing and even further support and encouragement.

 
YOSHIDA Yasuhiko
President
The Association for Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnerships (AOTS)