GRIPS had the Thai Public Administration and Leadership Training Program (PMLTP) for 12 days from May 21 to June 1, 2018. The program has been held every year in response to the request from the Office of the Civil Service Commission of the Thai Government (OCSC) since 2007. In this 12^th year of the program, GRIPS welcomed fifteen promising government officials selected by the Thai Government.

During the program, participants attended lectures given by Prof. Masahiro Horie (PMLTP Program Director; Professor Emeritus; Director of Executive Development Center for Global Leadership), other GRIPS faculty members including Prof. Mikitaka Masuyama(Vice President), Prof. Yonosuke Hara, Prof. Shigeru Morichi, Prof. Hiroshi Ikawa(Professor Emeritus), Hisayoshi Hashimoto(Professor Emeritus), Prof. Tateo Arimoto, Prof. Hiroko Ota, Prof. Fumihiro Kabuta, Prof. Taichi Ono. Special lectures were also made by Dr. Tagui Ichikawa (Deputy Director General for Artificial Intelligence Department of Information Technology and Human Factors) and Mr. Daichi Harada (Director, Office for International Cooperation, International Affairs Division, Minister’s Secretariat of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology).  

Participants learned the wide range of subjects and issues such as Current State and Challenges of Japanese Politics, Japanese Government and Public Administration Systems of Government, Public Administration and Civil Service, their Organizations and Operations, Policy Making, Implementation and Evaluation, and Roles of Administrators, Current State of East Asia and the Relationship between Thailand and Japan, Urban and Transport Policies, Japanese Economy and Economic and Fiscal Policies, Local Government Administration and Finance, Decentralization and Reform of Local Government, Leadership for the 21^st century, Agricultural Policies, Declining Birthrate and Aging, and Social Security Policies, Good Governance, Administrative Reform and Innovation, Industrial Policies, Science and Technology and Innovation Policies, and Education System and Policy in School in Japan.

In addition, GRIPS organized Leadership workshop.  For the workshop, GRIPS invited 22 participants, including young executives of Japanese companies and other private organizations, young officials of the Japanese government and GRIPS students.  They exchanged their views and opinions and built networks.

In Tokyo, participants visited METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), MOE (Ministry of the Environment) and House of Representatives, National Diet. At METI, they had briefings on Energy Policies of Japan and Relationships between Thailand and Japan from METI officials. At the MOE, they were given briefings on Aerial Environment, Waste Policy, and Climate Change in Japan. At the House of Representatives of the National Diet, they learned about the history and organizations of the National Diet.

The PMLTP participants also made a field trip to Nara and Kyoto accompanied by Prof. Hirofumi Takada. They visited Nara Prefectural Office, Kyoto Prefectural Office, and Kyoto City Office to pay courtesy visits to Vice-Governors and Vice Mayor, and received briefings on tourism policies, environmental policies, as well as the Regional revitalization. They also enjoyed the tour of Gekkeikan Brewery and Machiya in Kyoto city and learned traditional technique of both Brew and architect.

At the end of the program, all participant wrote a short paper about leadership and made a presentation. Then, Prof. Horie wrapped up the two-week program. All the participants received the certificates of completion and completed this training program.