Role of Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP) for capacity building Devnet International works on

by DEVNET JAPAN

Devnet International, NGO of United Nation ECOSOC, believes that the imbalance of human resources between developed and developing countries is causing big distortion in society.

Japan, that has grown rapidly from a developing country to a developed country, and that has begun to actively engage in immigration policy, will find many hints on how to resolve the imbalance in human resources.

Devnet International’s goal for 2030 is to create 10,000 entrepreneurs, mostly in developing countries in Asia. The economic activity 10,000 entrepreneurs expand will support one million people in the world.
Entrepreneurs need a mindset that wants to change the world rather than their educational background and work history.

Foreigners who receive vocational education in Japan don’t need to have highly educational background. High school graduates can work as technical intern trainees, and university graduates can work with internships and status of residence in technical, humanities, and international affairs.

The trainees returning to their original countries, would get the opportunity to work in the international branches of Japanese companies as future executive staff with the technic and language skills obtained thanks to the training programme.

Devnet International has been looking for ways to find and raise future-entrepreneurs, getting information about statuses of residence in Japan. In recent years, the number of foreign technical intern trainees has been remarkably increasing. We have collected information from “International Cross-Industrial Cooperatives” a supervising-organization involved in TITP. The following is a report on the situation at the present time.

Support effort and aim for Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP)

Devnet International is collaborating with private sectors and other non-governmental organizations. The Japanese Government in ensuring that the implementation of Japan’ s Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP) fully incorporates the goals of the UN’ s Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP) incorporates 9 goals: 1.No poverty, 2. Zero Hunger, 3.Good health and well-being, 7. Affordable and Clean Energy, 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth, 9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, 10. Reduced Inequalities, 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities, 12.R esponsible Consumption and Production.

If TITP works in the right way, following the UN Human Rights and SDG principles, this programme in collaboration with Devnet International will greatly contribute to “stable employment and safe working conditions in developing countries” and “providing technology and knowledge from developed countries.

TITP aims to promote international cooperation by transferring skills, technologies or knowledge in Japanese industries to developing countries through human resource development, with ensuring proper Technical Intern Training and protection of Technical Intern Trainees.

This programme in Japan is based on a training system implemented since the late ’60s, as an employee training program at overseas subsidiaries and other institutions, and was institutionalized in 1993 and substantially revised in November 2016.

Young people from developing countries (high school graduates) build an employment relationship with private sectors, as well as implementing organizations, prior to entering the country of origin in order to acquire, learn, and master skills that are difficult to get in their home countryies.

The maximum period of training is five years, based on a technical training plan. Currently, 383,978 out of 1.65 million foreign workers in Japan (according to a survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in October 2019) are the technical intern trainees from developing countries.
Devnet International supports as a monitor the operation of this programme and has been actively inviting young people from developing countries as technical intern trainees in cooperation with Japanese Government, Southeast Asian countries, and “International Cross-Industrial Cooperatives”, a supervising-organization involved in TITP.

TITP’s purpose is to encourage economic growth by inviting trainees to work in the private sector in Japan and by bringing their skills and knowledge back to their home countries. In order to undertake the training of interns in accordance with UN principles, cooperation with Japan, target countries, private companies accepting the trainees, and educational institutions in the target countries is essential. Cross-border activities are necessary.

TITP’s purpose is not to simply provide jobs and labor. If this were to happen, it would just be for making money temporarily in foreign country. The main goal is for young people from developing countries to learn technology and knowledge in Japan and to link it to their economic development in their home countries. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to implement not only recruitment but also follow-up support after returning home.

Devnet International is now starting to negotiate with JICA in order to build the system to support start-up entrepreneurial initiatives of trainees, making good use of the experiences in Japan.