UNIDO ITPO Tokyo organized “Industrial Policy Workshop” for the African Diplomatic Corps (ADC) inviting Professor Kenichi Ohno of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) on 10-11 January 2019. 39 diplomats including 6 ambassadors from 19 African embassies attended the workshop in two days.
On Day 1, the participants learned that how and why Japan industrialized rapidly by reviewing the historical transition of Japanese industrial policy. Prof. Ohno began his presentation with instruction of the socio-political structure in late Edo and early Meiji period. Specifically, he explained how Japan learned Western technologies and adopted them through engineering education such as the Institute of Technology and high-level industrial schools. He stressed that Japanese government and the private sector have improved productivity methods such as “Monozukuri spirit”, “Kaizen”, and “5S” after World War II, and these unique methods are introduced and applied to other countries.
On Day 2, some examples of industrial policy in Asian and African countries were compared. The participants learned that latecomer countries should embrace Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and learn efficiently through those foreign stimuli to foster industrialization. Then, he explained how to promote and implement industrial policy dialogues effectively using the cases of Ethiopia and Vietnam that he has participated in.
The Q & A session continued with enthusiasm from the participants with questions. Prof. Ohno stated that considering diversity and history of Africa is important, but it is not particularly necessary when having industrial policy dialogues, showing the examples that some Asian countries have achieved industrialization under diversified condition. Moreover, he added that governments in African countries need to formulate policies on securing bright youth such as ABE students to avoid emigration of talented people to developed countries.
Outline
Date/Time: 10-11 January 2019
Venue: UNU Annex Hall
Title: Industrial policy
Speaker: Prof. Kenichi Ohno (GRIPS)
Organizer: UNIDO ITPO Tokyo
Language: English
Participating Embassies
Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
