Research 2006
A book on social issues in
Vietnam (Sep. 2006)--Mr. Giang Thanh Long (VDF
Tokyo/GRIPS) and Ms. Duong Kim Hong (VDF Hanoi) are the co-editors of a
book on Vietnam's social issues which will be published in two languages,
English and Vietnamese, in early 2007. The book will contain recent
studies by VDF researchers and outside scholars, and cover changing
families and values, street children, internal migration, social
securities, HIV/AIDS, and so on.
A study on supporting
industries (Sep. 2006)--VDF Tokyo and VDF Hanoi
are conducting a study on supporting industries (industries that supply
material inputs to assembly-type industries such as automobiles and
electronics) for policy makers and researchers. Vietnam is a latecomer in
East Asian dynamism and, like other ASEAN countries, lacks supporting
industries needed for international competitiveness. The Vietnamese
government is in the early stage of learning about and promoting
supporting industries. We are compiling a book (English and Vietnamese) to
provide practical and policy-oriented information about this issue.
Expected publication is early 2007. Contributors include Ms. Nguyen Thi
Xuan Thuy (concepts and human resources), Mr. Junichi Mori (database
construction), and Mr. Ngo Duc Anh (theoretical review).
Dr. Umesao's historical
vision in Vietnamese (Sep. 2006)--Dr. Tadao
Umesao (1920-) is a renowned scholar in comparative culture and
anthropology, who presented his unique world history vision in the 1950s.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, one of my PhD students, and his friend Mr. Bui
Nguyen Anh Tuan, have translated his classic book, An Ecological View
of History (Japanese original, 1967; English translation 2003) into
Vietnamese. The book will soon be published by Vietnam National
University. Dr. Umesao's vision, also discussed in my Economic Development
of Japan, considers Japan and Western Europe as two unique regions that
could develop cumulatively and continuously without being destroyed by
violent outsiders, and had internally created necessary conditions for
industrialization.
COE Conference with Tokyo University (July 2006)--GRIPS and Tokyo
Univ. jointly sponsored a half-day symposium on "Industrialization of
Developing Countries and Japan's Involvement" at GRIPS on July
13. The two universities are currently executing highly-evaluated Center
of Excellence (COE) research programs on the dynamics of manufacturing
industries. Takahiro Fujimoto (photo, Tokyo Univ), renowned expert on
business architecture theory, identified architectural properties of
various countries such as Japan, US, EU, China, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam,
India, etc. and suggested needed strategy for each. Based on his policy
work in Vietnam, Kenichi Ohno (GRIPS) urged the country to become Japan's
integral manufacturing partner. Tomofumi Amano (Hosei/Tokyo Univ)
analyzed agglomeration of HDD industry in Southeast Asia and emphasized
the importance of corporate strategy and government policy. Keijiro Otsuka
and Tetsushi Sonobe (GRIPS/FASID) explained the common 3-stage pattern of
industrialization in developing countries and proposed measures to
accelerate it.
Joint
Working Group for drafting the motorbike master plan in Vietnam
(June 2006)--The Vietnam Development Forum (VDF) led by Prof. Ohno has
become a coordinator among the Ministry of Industry (MOI), producers, and
experts, in drafting Vietnam's motorbike master plan. This will be the
first attempt in Vietnam to draft an industrial master plan openly by
close consultation among all stakeholders. This new method was proposed by
VDF after reviewing the experiences of other countries, and accepted by
MOI. The Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative Phase 2, a bilateral official
program to improve Vietnam's business conditions, has decided to create
the Joint Working Group for drafting this master plan and designated VDF
to be the coordinator. Introduction of new methodology and procedure to
replace old ones may cause uncertainty and frustration. Time allowed for
drafting this master plan is also limited. VDF will try to mobilize as
many stakeholders as possible, ensure quality and solve institutional
problems as they arise.
JWG
webpage
Mori, Thuy and Oka come to GDF (May 2006)--Mr. Junichi Mori, MBA from the Fletcher School, Tufts
University, USA,, and Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan Thuy, MA from GRIPS and an
official at Vietnam's Ministry of Industry, have joined the GRIPS Development Forum
(GDF). They will conduct research on Vietnam's industrial policy.
Separately, Ms. Chikako Oka, PhD candidate at the Development Studies
Institute, London School of Economics, is with us as a visiting scholar
until June 2006. She is conducting a survey-based study on Japanese ODA
reform.
Japan's METI and Vietnam's MOI hold conference in Hanoi
(May 2006)--The
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) held a two-day conference
to explain concrete purposes, procedures and institutions of industrial
policy design and implementation in Japan and East Asia (Taiwan and
Thailand). It was co-hosted by Vietnam's Ministry of Industry (MOI), the
Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), and Japan's Association
for Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS). Prof. Akira Suehiro of Tokyo
University (photo), a leading expert on East Asian industrialization, and
other Japanese experts and officials, made presentations. Catch-up type
industrialization, deliberation councils, automobile policy, industrial
cluster policy, etc were presented in detail. This was the first time that
two ministries in charge of industries in Japan and Vietnam cooperated.
Since last year, I have been pushing both METI and MOI to do this in order
to build closer bilateral policy cooperation. I hope that they will
continue to cooperate more.
Summary
New GRIPS course on policy
design and implementation (Mar. 2006)--The
GRIPS Development Forum (GDF) is preparing a new course on policy
design and implementation in developing countries, offered on a pilot
basis in Autumn 2006 and officially from Spring 2007. This course tries to
link research and education at GRIPS by presenting the latest results of
GRIPS research for discussion and asking students to study the issues from
the perspective of their own countries. Our focus will initially be East
Asia but the scope will be expanded to all developing areas, including
Africa, as data and information are gathered.
Industrial master plans
for Vietnam (Mar. 2006)--The Vietnam Development
Forum (VDF), a joint research program between GRIPS and Hanoi's National
Economics University, is assisting Vietnam's Ministry of Industry in
drafting a number of industrial master plans, including the supporting
industry master plan, the motorbike master plan, and possibly the overall
industrial master plan too. In addition to academic inputs, VDF links
Japanese FDI firms with Vietnamese officials, and promotes coordination
within the Vietnamese government as well as between the Vietnamese and
Japanese government.
Economic Development of
Japan (revised Mar. 2006)--This is
the title of my new English book published by GRIPS Development Forum, and
distributed free of charge for anyone seriously interested in this topic.
The original book, in Japanese, was published in Feb. 2005 by Yuhikaku
Publishing Company. In addition, Chinese translation is almost finished
and will be published soon. Arabic translation is also in
progress. preface to Chinese edition
(English)
This book is actually my lecture notes at GRIPS for the course,
Economic Development of Japan, which was given until 2004. It
chronologically covers from the Edo period to the most recent period
(bubble burst: 1990s to early 21st century). The course is based on the
view that history progresses through an active interaction between
domestic society and foreign inputs, and that how people, enterprises and
policy makers respond to external shocks is essential. It introduces the
research results of many Japanese scholars but presents them as simply and nontechnically as possible.
