JICA Establishes Overseas Volunteering Program in Collaboration with Private Sector

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced in June 2012 that, to help the private sector cultivate internationally experienced human resources, it has set up a program to dispatch company employees overseas through the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV).

The program was designed to meet the needs of companies looking to train employees in a developing country where they can acquire a broader perspective, local communication skills, and the ability to adapt to a different culture, skills the participant would be expected to use for their company after finishing the program. The host country, volunteer activities, and terms of the dispatch are determined together by JICA and the participating company.

Suntory Holdings Ltd., a major Japanese beverage manufacturer, will send an employee to Hoi An in Vietnam to provide environmental education to local companies. Under this program, companies can also send their employees to countries where they have no operations. By negotiating the volunteer activities and other terms of the dispatch with JICA, Suntory said that it was able to meet local needs in a way that also fulfills its CSR vision and its human resources development goals.

JICA hopes to continue supporting the development of globally minded human resources who can take on leadership roles in the private sector.