Japan supports Vietnam in improving business leadership

It aims to help Vietnamese business people and firm leaders to improve their lacklustre leadership capacity. On Monday, the graduation ceremony for the latest course was held. Let’s see what the learners have learnt from this course. The Advanced Business Course started in 2009. After 6 courses, the programme has trained 150 students, including CEOs and managers of large and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam. Each course lasts for 10 months, including a 1-week field trip in Japan.

Mr Nguyen Dao Vinh, Chairman, Board of Director of A&TT Company, said that: "We attended to course to learn about the work ethic, knowledge and experience of Japanese businesses. And we are very satisfied with what we have got out from this course, especially the criticism from the lecturers. It showed us our limitations and offered clear directions for our firms".

Sharing opinion with Mr Nguyen Dao Vinh, Mr Masuda Chikahiro, Deputy Chief, Viet Nam Office, Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), identified that: "The biggest difference of this course is that all of our learners are business people and leaders. They got to actually go to see with their own eyes how businesses work in Japan and they will draw their own conclusions and then come home and apply what they have learnt with their colleagues".

The course is one of many activities organised by the Japan International Co-operation Agency or JICA in Vietnam. It aims to improve human resource capacity and leadership.

The course seems to offer an ideal solution to the poor standard of management that often characterises Vietnamese businesses and it’s also in line with the government’s efforts to improve the competitiveness of domestic businesses.

The next course start in October this year and end in August 2016, hopefully the next course graduates will play their part in modernising Vietnam’s business community.