As ODA-related study and consulting services, JDS has been involved in truly wide-ranging fields, such as peace-building, health and medical care, agriculture and the environment in addition to the fostering of industrial human resources, development of the business environment and facilitation of investment in developing countries.
Principal Clients
- Japan International Cooperation Agency
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
- Other government offices and extra-government organizations
- World Bank and other international organizations
Principal Fields
01 “KAIZEN” for Quality and Productivity Improvement
KAIZEN represents a Japanese technique to achieve quality and productivity improvement. The fostering of people who are capable of continually implementing KAIZEN on their own initiative at the front line of manufacturing in developing countries has been making a tangible contribution to various industries in many countries. Today, the word “KAIZEN” is in common use even in developing countries. In fact, KAIZEN is no longer just a tool for quality and productivity improvement at the production floor. Its concept, approach and activities have spread to the service sector as well as the daily operation of government offices, hospitals and schools.
KAIZEN, which has played a prominent role in the development of Japan’s manufacturing sector, is precisely one of the important fields for overseas assistance in which Japan excels as one of the world’s leading manufacturing country. JDS is actively involved in this field.
02 “Specific Skills” Supporting the Manufacturing Sector
“Specific skills” are absolutely essential for manufacturing. The range of manufacturing activities is truly wide, from such industrial products as automobiles and domestic electrical appliances to light industrial products, including textile products and foodstuffs. JDS has rich experience of assisting technical guidance and technology transfer in various manufacturing sub-sectors, ranging from automobile manufacturing and die-making to casting, plastic injection moulding, machining, pressing, welding and food processing.
JDS dispatches experts specializing in “specific skills” to provide technical guidance at the manufacturing floor in developing countries and has contributed to strengthening the industrial competitiveness of recipient countries.
03 Promotion of Investment
With growing emphasis on the role played by private investment to facilitate economic growth, the attraction of investment in diverse fields in addition to natural resources has become important for the purpose of creating employment opportunities and business linkage between local and foreign enterprises and also facilitating the transfer of technology. JDS has been assisting the “formulation of investment policies”, “capacity building of investment promotion organizations” and “improvement of the investment environment” to match the needs of recipient countries with a view to facilitating investment promotion efforts.
04 Development of Business Environment
The development of capable business personnel and the surrounding environment has become an important precondition for development and growth with the progress of globalization and industrial advancement. The increasing closeness and speed of communication throughout the world demand improvement of the efficiency of various institutional systems as well as educational standards in all countries. JDS employs different approaches using various resources to develop a suitable business environment in individual recipient countries.
1） Utilization and Application of ICT (Information and Communication Technology)
The basic policy for assistance in the ICT field has moved to the next stage of utilizing and applying ICT in a cross-sectoral manner. JDS is active in various related fields and specializes in problem-solving type solutions (problem-solving using ICT solutions as actively utilized in Japan and the rest of the world) and business effect facilitation solutions (ICT service as a tool to further enhance the effects of an existing business).
2） Fostering of Business Personnel at the Japan Center
The Japan Human Resources Development Center (commonly called “the Japan Center”) was originally conceived as a base for the fostering of business personnel and for networking between recipient countries of Japan’s ODA and Japan as part of “visible aid” for countries with an economy in transition and has been opened in a number of countries since 2000. JDS assists these centers to provide wide-ranging and practical lectures designed to meet local needs with novel ideas and they have been well received. Apart from production and quality control, business improvement, marketing, business communication and client services, these lectures include a financial management method using an Excel sheet and organizational strategy with the application of a management game.
3） Japanese-Style Hospitality and Improvement of Customer Service
JDS assists a number of training schemes incorporating Japanese knowledge and wisdom for the purpose of the capacity building of administrative staff working at customer counters to improve their customer handling skills and also for the fostering of model leaders for the further improvement of administrative services.
4） Approaches from the Financial Aspect
JDSA provides help for various efforts to assist the financial sector by means of, for example, studies on the financial sector featuring the financial policy, regulations and fund raising methods and also technical guidance to improve personal competency to conduct financial business and financial appraisal.
05 Local Development; Peace Building; Reconstruction; Gender
To prevent or resolve conflicts and to firmly establish peace, development aid designed to rectify the gap between the rich and the poor, unequal opportunities, etc., which are the causes of conflict, is important along with a military and/or political approach, including preventive diplomacy. JDS has been assisting ODA designed to mitigate various difficulties faced by people during and in the immediate aftermath of a conflict and to ensure stable medium and long-term development in the post-conflict period.
06 Health and Medical Care; Agriculture; Environment
In developing countries, the health of many people is threatened by poor sanitation and inadequate nutrition. As environmental issues have become increasingly more serious globally in recent years, JDS has been engaged in many projects designed to improve health and medical care, to assist the development of agriculture and rural areas and to improve the environment to solve many critical environmental challenges.
