The Second Policy Forum on Leadership and Management Development in Asian Countries was held at GRIPS on March 26 and 27, 2015. The forum, part of the Asian Leadership and Management Research Project, was jointly organized by GRIPS and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with the cooperation of Hitotsubashi University. Among the invited were leaders of associated organizations and scholars from Japan and the participating ASEAN countries (Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam).

The second workshop for the sharing of the results of current research in the participating countries was held in September 2014. Now at this forum, leading experts participating in the research shared their findings and discussed practical approaches to the strengthening of member governments’ capacity to resolve challenging issues.

Please refer to the detailed program here.

Mr. Hidetoshi Irigaki, Director General of JICA’s Southeast Asia and Pacific Department, gave the welcome address at the opening of the forum on March 26, 2015. Representatives of Japan and the participating ASEAN countries then gave presentations summarizing the findings of their research in their home countries.

Following a commentary by Dr. Ikujiro Nonaka, Professor Emeritus of Hitotsubashi University, the representatives and scholars from the ASEAN countries engaged in lively summative discussion on two themes, “The Essence of Organizational Capacity and its Development” and “The Essence of Leadership and its Development.”

The afternoon of the second day featured a forum, “Innovating Policies; A New Paradigm of Governance to Activate Governments’ Potential,” at GRIPS’ Sokairo Hall. Open to the public, this forum attracted an audience of more than 200. Opening addresses were given by Mr. Hiroshi Kato, Vice President of JICA, and Prof. Kiyotaka Yokomichi, Vice President of GRIPS. Dr. Ikujiro Nonaka, Professor Emeritus of Hitotsubashi University, gave the first keynote, “Unleash the Knowledge Potential of Nation, Region, and Community: Co-creating Values for Society.”

In the second keynote,“Public Servant, Servant Leader,” Dr. Alex Brillantes Jr, Commissioner, Philippines Commission of Higher Education, presented exemplary cases from Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

After the keynote presentations by Dr. Nonaka and Dr. Brillantes, vigorous discussion ensued in two panel discussions, “Reform for Efficiency or Innovation?” and “A New Paradigm from Asia.” Building on the cases presented by the respective countries, participants discussed ways of developing innovative policy solutions in the face of complex issues.

Finally, in his closing remarks, Prof. Yokomichi of GRIPS pointed out that this forum was the final reporting meeting of the two-year research project, and announced that in the near future the project results will be publicized.

For more info, see The Second Policy Forum Report.