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What early experience, personal or professional, first connected you to the field of
development?
In 1991, I was assigned to help developing countries at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan for two years. We started a new program called the Green Aid Plan because environmental problems like air and water pollution were becoming increasingly important in ASEAN and other developing countries. This program helped these countries create and carry out environmental policies with Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) measures. At the same time, MITI had been encouraging private companies to increase their Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as well as to work together to help developing countries grow their industries. It included various programs. For example, it trained engineers and other industrial talents in developing countries. Such training was held in Japan and abroad. It also sent Japanese experts to manufacturing and other industries in developing countries. It did this in cooperation with Japanese companies and specialized organizations for Japanese technical cooperation. Some of these organizations have joined together to form a single organization, The Association for Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnerships (AOTS). I have been working as the President of AOTS since last year.
If someone shadowed you for a week, what would surprise them most about the way you approach your work?
Our main focus is on developing the human resources of the private sector in developing countries. In doing so, AOTS works closely with the Japanese government's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), into which MITI was transformed in 2001. To improve the economy and solve social problems, it's important to develop the skills of the workforce in addition to the technology and financial resources used in private industry. Our programs held in Japan have taught management knowledge and factory skills to more than 200,000 people over the past 65+ years. In some cases, not only two generations of parents and children but also three generations, including grandchildren, have participated in the AOTS training program.
Former trainees often return to our training centers with their families. They enjoy showing their families the center, seeing the staff of their training program, and sharing their great stories from their training period in Japan after decades.
What energizes you outside of work that feeds back into how you lead or serve?
I have always been encouraged and helped by the connections I've made with people with whom I've studied, worked, and even negotiated. I have made many friends through studying in the United States, serving as an APEC Senior Official, and acting as the chief negotiator for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), as well as through my work with the Japanese government. There, I was responsible for bilateral economic relations with many Asian countries. I always love to renew our friendship when I travel overseas or receive them in Tokyo.
If this spotlight inspires someone to reach out to you, what kind of conversation
would you most love to have?
I would be very happy to tell the stories of seventy-five AOTS alumni societies in forty-six countries. I recently attended the 50th anniversary of the ABK-AOTS Dosokai Tamil Nadu Centre in Chennai, India, in March 2025. I was also at the 60th anniversary of the oldest alumni society, the Philippine Cultural and Technical Association of Returned Overseas Scholars (PHILCULTAROS), last month. Many of these alumni societies not only foster friendships among former trainees but also disseminate Japanese management techniques, teach the Japanese language, organize national contests for 5S—a Japanese method for improving the work environment—and collaborate closely with AOTS headquarters. As exemplified by the more than thirty alumni who have been decorated by the Japanese government, former trainees have contributed to the strengthening of friendship and goodwill between Japan and their respective countries.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to recent Harvard alumni?
It would be to assist people in developing countries. It is important not only to provide for their basic human needs but also to help them develop their human resources, particularly in the private sector. This may not satisfy immediate needs, but it would be an effective and sustainable way to help them in the long term.
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