December 21, 2011 ― Japan joined the World Bank in August 1952 to borrow the large sums necessary for its post-war reconstruction. In 1990, Japan signed its final World Bank loan and became the 11th country to graduate from borrower status. During this period, Japan borrowed $863 million from the World Bank. Today, Japan is one of the largest contributors to international development with official development assistance recorded at $11 billion in 2011.

The country not only makes financial contributions, but its own development experiences are helpful to many developing countries. Dynamic reconstruction from the war, rapid economic growth, environmental protection and vibrant innovation and technology provide inspiration, while its challenges such as long-term recession, an aging society, and natural disasters are of great interest to many developing countries.

During November 13-19, 2011, fifteen mid-career professionals from developing countries participated in a learning program that took place in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan.  Those competitively-selected participants are alumni of the Joint-Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (JJ/WBGSP)* who received Masters’ degrees during 2009 and 2010.

The Study Tour

The objective of this one-week study program was for JJ/WBGSP alumni who studied outside Japan to learn from Japan's development experiences and to get to know the culture and people of Japan.

With this hands-on experience and exposure to Japan, I have grown to understand that despite Japan's industrial development, its genuine concern to protect the environment and its people remain at the core of its development efforts.Sharon Dela Torre, Senior Economic Development Specialist, National Economic and Development Authority in the Philippines.

The program was composed of class room lectures, meetings with the Ministry of Finance and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), visits to prominent Japanese companies such as Panasonic, and networking with JJ/WBGSP scholars who are currently studying in Japan.

"This is the last day of the study program, but it is the beginning of our long-term relationship,” said Mr. Nobumitsu Hayashi, Executive Director for Japan at the World Bank, who joined the group on the final day of the study program, where each participant gave a presentation on what they learned and how they would apply the new knowledge when returning home. Coming from 15 different backgrounds, participants of the study program extracted different lessons from the study tour but equally benefited from their stay in Japan.

"With this hands-on experience and exposure to Japan, I have grown to understand that despite Japan's industrial development, its genuine concern to protect the environment and its people remain at the core of its development efforts,” said Sharon Dela Torre from the Philippines, a graduate of University of London and currently Senior Economic Development Specialist, National Economic and Development Authority in the Philippines. “There is now a renewed motivation to improve my delivery of services as a civil servant and a development worker in the field of education and manpower development." 

Additionally, in response to the recent international trend where disaster risk management (DRM) has become an important issue in development, this year's study program also focused on Japan's experience with natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. "Directly experiencing the outcome of Japanese development history has enhanced my motivation to work for my country in order to accelerate its development pace,” said Jorge Duarte Rolon from Paraguay, a graduate of the University of Manchester and currently Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Finance, Paraguay.

A visit to Panasonic was an inspiration to many participants. The group first visited Panasonic’s Matsushita Konosuke Museum, where the spirit of Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic, is reflected throughout the company’s history. The group then met with the management of Panasonic and had    active discussions on issues such as Panasonic’s corporate strategy, philosophy, regional policy, employee training system, and so on.

"I have been greatly motivated by all visits during this study program, but especially by the one at Panasonic,” said Shishir Kanti Routh from Bangladesh, a graduate of Harvard University and currently Executive Engineer, Roads and Highways, Ministry of Communication, Bangladesh. “It inspired me to take up new challenges and at the same time to be committed to our society.  I will reflect those values in my policy related work for Bangladesh.”

Participants of the study program are committed to be the locus of the JJ/WBGSP’s alumni community for its knowledge sharing and networking for development.

(*) The JJ/WBGSP was founded in 1987, solely funded by the Government of Japan and managed by the World Bank Institute. To date, the JJ/WBGSP has supported nearly 4,500 young professionals from the developing countries to study development studies at graduate schools around the world.