<In the beginning>
"Study Group on Thinking about the State of Technical Cooperation" (hereinafter referred to as "Study Meeting") was held by Japan Overseas Ports Cooperation Association (JOPCA)sponsored ,and by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism(MLITT) supported, and Overseas Coastal Area Development Institute of Japan(OCDI) supported , from 14:30 21 Feb 2019. The 7th was held under the title of "Message to young engineers involved / Technical cooperation in the age of infrastructure system export". Mr. Akihiko Yahiro, the planning committee member of JOPCA, was chaired. The number of people who attended was 65, including about 25 young engineers who belong to MLITT, the Regional Development Bureau, the port manager, JICA, construction companies, and consultants.

8th floor in Shoyu Kaikan

The purpose of this study meeting was "The ideal way of technical cooperation (interim report) March 2017" , ①Is it done that the current technical cooperation has been linked with the port policy of the country, and Japan's strengths have been demonstrated. ②Public and private engineers need to continuously improve their technical capabilities by directly

engaging in the implementation of the project and gaining

actual experience at the project site, but is it done that

sufficient technology transfer and human resource development can be achieved ?. ③International cooperation has entered into a period of competition with China, Korea, etc., but is our country's competitiveness OK? ④International cooperation operations have been transformed from infrastructure development and technical cooperation up to now to the "Infrastructure system export (plan, design,

construction, operation and management)" era, but can you

say that there is a sufficient system for this? Under the above awareness of the problem, it is about going to argue on the following points
①With the decrease in social infrastructure development projects in Japan, where is the way for young public and private engineers to develop their technological capabilities?

②Technical cooperation requires both individual power and organizational power, but how is organizational power formed? Here, "organizations" are the government, port managers, consultants and construction companies. The establishment of organizational power is system construction, and together with the reconstruction of each organization, is the strengthening of coordination between each organization. ③Technologies required for international cooperation require the use of appropriate technologies that are compatible with developing countries, but how should young engineers be able to create an environment where they are understood and used? ④As the technology required for international cooperation shifts from elemental technology to integrated technology, what is the image of technical people (people and organizations) responsible for these? At the beginning, Mr. Tatsuhiko Ikeda, Chairman of the JOPCA on behalf of the organizers, made a remark that he would like to think about technical cooperation in the infrastructure system export era with this study meeting. Furthermore, on behalf of MLIT, Mr.Takamitsu Asawa , Deputy Director General for Engineering Affairs of Port and Harbor Bureau ,stated that it was a good opportunity to consider the technical cooperation corresponding to the export of infrastructure system promoted by the government.

Mr. Tatsuhiko IKEDA, Chairman of JOPCA

Mr. Takamitsu ASAWA, MLIT

<Keynote speech>
Mr. Kouki Hirota, PhD, Professor of Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Saitama University, gave a keynote speech entitled "The Problem of Exporting Infrastructure Systems". Prof. Hirota has been a JICA chief economist after completing a doctoral course ,from Director General of Southeast Asia and Oceania Department, and Planning Department JICA. He explained as follow.In the present situation where promotion of infrastructure export is being promoted as one of the growth strategies against the background of the shrinking of the domestic market due to the population decline, it was explained at first how foreign infrastructure demand is estimated as such. The scale of infrastructure spending in each country is not known exactly. Furthermore, the improvement of infrastructure facilities quality, renewal, rehabilitation, disaster prevention etc. should not be included. Next, with regard to how infrastructure exports grow the Japanese economy, competition with private investment and new construction alone is fierce, so it is necessary to take in maintenance demand, environmental considerations, etc. For this reason, it was said that using maintenance and management of the domestic infrastructure industry, PPP promotion, and urban redevelopment for export would be effective for improving productivity as well.

Prof. Kouki HIROTA

<Panel discussion>
Panel discussion was conducted on the theme of "Thinking about the development of technology and human resources related to the global development of infrastructure", with Mr. Tomihiro Watanabe ,the special professor at Kyoto University Graduate School of Business Administration as a coordinator. Mr. Itsu Adachi ,one of 3 panelists ,Director General of JICA, Infrastructure and Peacebuilding Department ,stated that Asia has been JICA's long-standing ODA partner country, and local companies with technology have been maturing, and there is a possibility of carrying out projects in collaboration with Japan . Africa, on the other hand, could become the main field of ports in the future. We would like to form a tag with Asian countries that have accumulated experience of collaboration with Japanese general contractors and local contractors, and would like to make inroads into third countries such as Africa. Would you like to support the development of technical standards on which developing countries can develop their own technology? Also, as reverse innovation, there could be a method to demonstrate and experience Japanese technology overseas and to feed it back to Japan. It could become WIN-WIN for both partner country and Japan. He remarks that we had to keep in mind that the actor of maintenance in the partner country is different from that of its new construction .In addition, Mr. Hiroyuki Takakaze, one of 3 panelists,General Manager of Ports and Airports Department, Overseas Operations Headquarters, Nippon Koei Co., Ltd. Consultant ,introduced a project with expensive steel pipe piles in the partner country, taking as an example the STEP project being carried out in Mombasa, Kenya. Also he explained the reasoning such as siltation and reduction to the environment. In addition, about human resources development, he explained dispatch to OJT training system and construction management outside the company. Furthermore, Mr. Tetsusi Noguchi, one of 3 panelists, Senior Managing Executive Officer, Member of the Board, Head of Civil Engineering Divisions Group at Penta-Ocean Construction Co., Ltd., introduced the fact that more than half of overseas job applicants have drastically decreased after 10 years, and inter-departmental collaboration is important as a response. We moved our overseas base to Singapore and have been able to accept orders for large projects in recent years, because there is a long history of relationships of trust behind them. Japan's operation and maintenance technology and ICT construction technology have a comparative advantage over other countries. Rather than selling only elemental technology in Japan, it should be appealed as a comprehensive technology. It is necessary to fight in performance and technology competition because it loses in specification competition. On the other hand, we should cope with the technology of the rival country,not only with Japanese original technology. In-house human resource development has prepared many training programs to become full in seven years. I also want to stimulate the domestic and international cycles. Lastly, there were some advices from each panelist on learning languages, such as needing improvement to enjoy private life as well as work.

Prof. Tomihiro WATANABE

Mr. Itsu ADACHI

Mr. Hiroyuki TAKAKAZE

Mr. Tetsushi NOGUCHI

Question from the Venue

Lastly, Mr. Koichi Miyake, Executive Director of OCDI, thanked the participating young engineers for their participation, and commented on the day-to-day battle as an engineer.

<Exchange meeting>
After the study meeting, the exchange meeting was held in the same meeting room. It started with a toast from Mr Satoshi Uozumi ,Director of Industrial Port Policy Division , Port and Harbor Bureau, MLITT. There were discussions between Prof. Hirota ,Prof. Watabe, three panelists ,and the audience continued at an exchange meeting, such as points that could not be heard at the research meeting. Along the way, young audiences were given a one-minute speech, including their thoughts and comments. There were a lot of reliable speeches that felt their determination and passion for international cooperation. In addition, Mr. Naoki Takikawa, who will be transferred as a diplomat of Embassy of Japan in Myanmar in March, Mr. Koichi Kihara, Embassy of Japan in Mozambique, and Mr. Kazutaka Ishimatsu, Embassy of Japan in Russia were introduced. Lastly, it ended in a bustling closing with Mr. Takikawa.

<Summary>
Detailed contents of this study meeting will be posted on the HP later. We ask the listeners to submit a questionnaire for this meeting, and as a result, we will analyze it and consider its future direction, including the follow-up to the audience.
The theme of this year's theme, "The state of technical cooperation in the era of infrastructure system export," started in response to the mid-term report of 2017, and was the second project this time. While giving advice to Mr. Ikeda, I narrowed down the points through discussions with Prof. Hirota and Prof. Watanabe, as well as with panelists and the International Planning Office of the Port and Harbor Bureau, MLITT. I hope that this discussion will further deepen and develop discussions on this subject, and if young people are more interested in it, it would be nice. Finally, Prof. Hirota who made preparations for the last 5 months from last October and valuable presentations on the day, Prof. Watanabe who coordinated the panel discussion, and the other three panelists, once again, sincerely respected and respected. I would like to express my gratitude.
(Akihiko Yahiro Planning Committee JOPCA)