**3. Government-led cooperation for industrial human resource development**

As overviewed in the previous section, Japan's policy contexts surrounding industrial human resource development have changed significantly over time due to the international community's influence. This section analyzes the trends in JICA's technical cooperation projects for industrial human resource development. We focus on its target regions, industries, and recipients to see how the Japanese government has provided assistance in such a context.

Technical cooperation has played a central role in industrial human resource development cooperation. It aims to enhance problem-solving capabilities and a sense of ownership in developing countries through human resource development, research and development, technology diffusion, and institutional capacity building. To achieve these goals, Japan dispatches experts, provides the necessary equipment, and accepts trainees in Japan. Projects in this category have been executed since the 1950s, and JICA has been the main government entity in charge of implementing them. Therefore, trends in JICA's technical cooperation projects will give us an overview of the characteristics of Japanese government-led cooperation for industrial human resource development.

#### **3.1 Trends in JICA assistance**

To illustrate the trends in JICA assistance, we analyzed data on technical cooperation projects for TVET compiled by the Review Committee on Japan's International Cooperation in Education: History and Present Condition, organized by the JICA Research Institution (renamed JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development in 2020). The data include names, periods, and the annual budget for technical cooperation projects provided by JICA.

#### *3.1.1 Target regions*

Southeast Asia accounted for 29% of the total amount of assistance, followed by Africa (18%), the Middle East (12%), South America (9%), South Asia (8%), East Asia (7%), and Central Asia/Caucasus (5%). The aggregate amount allocated to subregions in Asia (Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia, and Central Asia/Caucasus) was almost half of the total, indicating that Asia has been the primary focus of JICA assistance.

**Figure 1** shows a trend in the budget of 245 projects aggregated by region. The initial emphasis was on Asia, but assistance to the Middle East and North, Central, and South America gradually increased. A significant expansion of technical cooperation is seen in the 1980s due to the implementation of ASEAN Hitozukuri Cooperation projects. Since 2008, when the TICAD IV was held, the share of JICA's budget allocated to Africa has increased. Today, the size of the budget for Africa is almost the same as that for Asia.

#### *3.1.2 Target industries*

We divided 245 projects into three categories of industry: manufacturing; agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; and others. The manufacturing industry accounts for 43% of JICA's budget, followed by 11% for the agriculture, forestry, and fishery *Perspective Chapter: Japan's Government-Led and Private-Sector-Led Cooperation for Industrial... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112514*

#### **Figure 1.**

*Budget of JICA technical cooperation projects on TVET (unit: Billion yen) by region. Source: Created by the author based on the project list provided by the review committee on Japan's international cooperation in education: History and present condition.*

#### **Figure 2.**

*Breakdown of sectors covered by JICA technical cooperation projects. Source: Created by the author based on the project list provided by the review committee on Japan's international cooperation in education: History and present condition.*

industries and 46% for others (see **Figure 2**). The manufacturing industry alone takes a large share of the total budget. Many projects are in the "other industries" category, including management and production control, business, logistics, and so forth. These projects are relevant to all industries.

We disaggregated the manufacturing industry into five sub-industries based on the Japan Standard Industrial Classification (October 2013 revised edition):<sup>3</sup> electric and electronic, mechanical, manufacturing of transportation equipment, metalworking, and other manufacturing. The electric and electronic and mechanical categories each take 30% of the budget. The electric and electronic category

<sup>3</sup> Since many technical cooperation projects in the manufacturing sector span multiple industries, a single project may be classified under multiple industries.

includes electrical engineering, electronic engineering, and communications engineering. The mechanical category consists of the production of metal molds, machinery design, and manufacture of lathes, machine tools, and construction machinery. JICA's technical cooperation has a focus on generic knowledge and skills applicable to diverse sectors of industries rather than those specific to narrow sectors.

#### *3.1.3 Assisted entities*

JICA supports institutions and individuals at various levels and with various functions. To analyze the trend in entities that are targeted by the JICA's technical cooperation projects, we divided 245 projects into three types based on the nature of their activities: (1) support for TVET institutions, (2) empowerment of socially vulnerable groups, and (3) support for TVET policies and systems. The first category was further classified by type of institution. **Figure 3** shows the trend.

In the 1960s and 1970s, most support was provided to TVET institutions, aiming to transfer technology and foster professionals in mining, manufacturing, and the agriculture, forestry, and fishery industries. The projects have since expanded to include support for establishing TVET trainer-training institutions and improving the management of training. For instance, among the ASEAN Hitozukuri Cooperation projects in the 1980s, those in Malaysia and Indonesia supported the establishment of TVET trainer-training institutions. JICA also assisted in creating TVET systems at the country level, for instance, by developing training courses in new technology fields.

#### **Figure 3.**

*Trend in entities targeted by JICA technical cooperation projects (unit: 100 million yen). Source: Created by the author based on the project list provided by the review committee on Japan's international cooperation in education: History and present condition.*

*Perspective Chapter: Japan's Government-Led and Private-Sector-Led Cooperation for Industrial... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112514*

Support for TVET institutions to foster business personnel also started during this period.

In the 1990s, the JICA technical cooperation budget temporarily declined due to the completion of a series of ASEAN Hitozukuri Cooperation projects. The amount increased again, peaking in the late 1990s in line with the overall trend of the ODA budget. However, it has gradually declined since the 2000s, accompanied by a significant change in the target recipients. While support for TVET institutions in the traditional sector, such as the mining and manufacturing industries, dropped by one-tenth between 1998 and 2008, support for human resource development in the business and economic sectors has increased. In particular, support for training centers for business personnel and the formation of human networks with Japan (commonly known as "Japan Center") has accounted for a large share of the budget since the beginning of the 2000s. This project was part of the support for countries transitioning from socialist economies to market economies. Since the 2000s in Africa, we find new types of projects, although not as large in scale, supporting TVET for discharged soldiers in conflict-affected countries and basic vocational training for the poor and women.

In sum, JICA's assistance tends to be: (1) focused on Asia but, in recent years, expanded to cover the whole world, with particular attention to Africa; (2) aimed at raising the level of generic and basic skills that can be applied to various sectors; and (3) in its early years, supporting TVET institutions in the fields of mining and manufacturing and agriculture, forestry, and fishery industries. In recent years, however, JICA has changed its approach to industrial human resources development. First, instead of targeting specific industrial sectors, it now fosters human resources in trade and business. Second, it supports a recipient government in developing a national TVET system as a whole rather than dispatching experts and providing equipment for specific TVET institutions. Third, it now focuses on skills development to empower socially vulnerable groups.

#### **3.2 Factors influencing JICA's assistance**

Trends in JICA's assistance have been greatly influenced by the policies of Japan's government and the global contexts surrounding aid for industrial human resource development.

In the 1960s and 1970s, many projects were linked to Japan's economic policies promoting exports and encouraging Japanese businesses to expand their operations in Southeast Asia. JICA implemented projects to train mid- and low-level engineers in those countries, especially in mining and manufacturing and the agriculture, forestry, and fishery industries.

During the 1970s and 1980s, a period of declining interest in TVET in the international community, Japan expanded its assistance to foster advanced skilled professionals (TVET instructors and senior engineers) who would contribute to the development of Southeast Asia through the ASEAN Hitozukuri Cooperation. In response to criticism and pressure from the international community, the government began to promote assistance not for Japan's own economic benefit, but to develop necessary human resources for recipient countries.

Since the 1990s, influenced by international aid trends, Japanese policy has focused on developing the capacity of individual citizens, including the poor, women, and other socially vulnerable groups. These changes in the policy environment led to a decline in JICA assistance for TVET in mining and manufacturing in the early 2000s.

Instead, projects aimed at fostering human resources for business and economic sectors increased. Moreover, TICAD IV led to a sharp increase in assistance to the African region since 2010, including TVET for soldiers discharged from the military in conflict-affected countries and socially vulnerable groups.
