Japan's education initiative supports Egyptians calibers

CAIRO - 14 December 2017: The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) celebrated this week the return of seven Egyptian professionals to Egypt with master degrees under a Japanese education initiative.

The African Business Education Initiative, known as ABE initiative, provides 1,000 youths in the African continent with opportunities for master’s degree programs and internships.

Over a period of five years between 2014 and 2019, the initiative was announced by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo ABE for the purpose of supporting the sustainable economic development in Africa.

JICA is funding the program with the aim of developing human resources who can contribute to economic development of Egypt, and strengthening the economic relationship between Egypt and Japan through the ABE Initiative.

Under this program, 65 Egyptians were dispatched to Japan so far.

Attended by the chief representative of JICA Egypt Office, Teruyuki Ito, seven Egyptian participants shared at the event their experiences and perspectives of the Japanese society.

Participants talked about difficulties they faced in the Japanese culture and environment that are very different from Egypt, stating that they have learnt a lot from the Japanese traditions such as punctuality and teamwork.

Ministry of Health employee Mohamed Hassan, who studied business in Doshisha University, presented his experience, explaining that he had studied operation management.

Hassan co-launched, along with other participants in the ABE program, an initiative to connect Japanese businessmen to Africa, called "Kakehashi Africa."

"We facilitate exchange of knowledge by matching the needs of Japanese enterprises, and strengthening relationships between these companies and stakeholders of the African market," Hassan added.

Participants of the program are accepted for about 150 master's courses at 75 Japanese universities, with engineering, agriculture, economics and business administration as their areas of focus.

They are also allowed to conduct internships at a variety of 400 Japanese companies during their summer vacation.

JICA is adopting Egypt-Japan Education Partnership (EJEP), which was launched during the visit of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to Japan in 2016, to support Egyptian human resources that can contribute to economic development. The Japanese agency is supporting all stages of application.