PMFORUM Breaking News
Breaking News in the Project Management World
Monday, March 10, 2008
International Project & Program Management Symposium Tokyo 2008 opens with welcome from Japanese Government
Reported by PMForum in Tokyo
The International Project & Program Management Symposium Tokyo 2008 opened in Tokyo, Japan on Monday, March 10 with welcoming addresses by Dr. Hiroshi Tanaka, Conference Chair, and Mr. Hiroshi Kunitomo, Director of the International Project Promotion Office of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of the Japanese Government. Master of Ceremonies for the opening session was David Pells, Managing Editor of PMForum and PM World Today.
Dr. Tanaka welcomed delegates from more than 20 countries to the second international symposium hosted by the Project Management Association of Japan (PMAJ). According to Hiroshi, “I hope this symposium will provide another platform where PM East meets PM West as IPMC 2001 did so successfully. Those of you who have come all the way from the West are invited to know the fast growing project management in Asia, from Kazakhstan, via Japan, Korea, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, to India.”
He also introduced the Executive Symposium Board, consisting of the following Japanese executives:
Hiroshi then introduced the members of the International Advisory Board, consisting of 15 well known project management authorities and professional leaders from around the world.
Representing METI, Mr. Kunitomo welcomed the 400+ symposium attendees to Japan and to the conference. He then discussed some actions that METI is taking to support professional project management.
According to Mr. Kunitomo, “This global symposium is a wonderful occasion that we from Japan could introduce what we are doing. I am very happy and honored to talk to you as a Japanese government official that works closely with the industry that promotes project management. I would like to spend a few minutes to talk about how we at METI emphasize project management.
First of all, we are continuing our support of the promotion of P2M in Japan.
Practice of project management has spread into many branches of industry in Japan. Through the tough competition in the marketplace, the industrial society needs breakthroughs in project management. I believe here is a prospect that the horizon of P2M is extending.
Secondly, METI has started a three-year program of developing project managers in the plant engineering and construction projects. The industry needs project managers who have, not only all-rounded global management capability of projects, but also balanced project risk management capability. Our industry and METI are making efforts together to tackle anew developing candidates for such project managers through the industry’s dedicated development program; according to the tough business environment.
Third, if we look at global initiatives of PM, METI is supporting the Japanese Mirror Committee of ISO, International Standards Organization, Project Committee that is now under way.
The Japanese Government has been pursuing, since 2006, the New Economic Growth Strategy that would realize a renewed, strong Japanese economy. The backbone of the strategy is acceleration of innovation. This strategy shows that under the limitation of natural resources and man power resources, in order to grow stably, Japanese economy will need to lay down five resource categories as fundamental muscles to move ahead the strategy. These five categories are human assets, capital assets or production means, financial assets, technological and intellectual assets, and managerial methods.
I consider integrating these resources and maintaining a fine balance among them in order to conceive and realize new organizational value, is project management of a new breed suitable for solving complex and compounding problems of today.”
Mr. Kunitomo (on left in photo with Dr. Tanaka) joined METI in 1986 after graduating from Tokyo University with a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources Engineering. He completed his Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering at Imperial College of London University. He has been engaged in public administration and industrial promotion concerning oil and gas, mineral resources, environmental management, and the engineering industry, among others in his career of 21 years as a government official.
The International Projects Promotion Office of METI is responsible for the promotion of the plant engineering and construction industry, and the governmental support for major-sized international projects in social and industrial infrastructures. These industry branches are highly dependent on project management in which you are experts. The plant engineering and construction industry is one of pioneers of project management. METI has been involved with the promotion of project management in Japan over the past 30 years and supported the promotional activities of the Engineering Advancement Association of Japan (ENAA) and Project Management Association of Japan, PMAJ, the organizer of this symposium.
The “International Project & Program Management Symposium Tokyo 2008 – In pursuit of organizational project management value,” is being held in Tokyo, Japan during 10-11 March 2008. The symposium at Tower Hall, Funabori, Tokyo, Japan, was sponsored by the Project Management Association of Japan. The Project Director for the IP&PMS Tokyo 2008 was Dr. Hiroshi Tanaka.
The national Project Management Association of Japan (PMAJ) was born in 2005 thorough the integration of the Japan Project Management Forum (JPMF – pioneer of Japan’s project management society) and Project Management Professionals Certification Center (PMCC). PMAJ has 3,000 individual and 110 corporate members from all branches of the Japanese industry and governmental agencies. PMAJ offers its own standard “The Guidebook of Project and Program Management for Enterprise Innovation – P2M” and P2M based certification system. For more information, visit http://www.pmaj.or.jp/.
The International Project & Program Management Symposium Tokyo 2008 opened in Tokyo, Japan on Monday, March 10 with welcoming addresses by Dr. Hiroshi Tanaka, Conference Chair, and Mr. Hiroshi Kunitomo, Director of the International Project Promotion Office of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of the Japanese Government. Master of Ceremonies for the opening session was David Pells, Managing Editor of PMForum and PM World Today.
He also introduced the Executive Symposium Board, consisting of the following Japanese executives:
- Mr. Motonori Saeki, Senior Corporate Officer, Hihon Unisys, Ltd.
- Mr. Gaku Suzuki, President & CEO of Industrial Systems, Hitachi, Ltd.
- Mr. Koichi Hironishi, Corporate Senior Vice Prsident, Fujitsu, Ltd.
- Mr. Masahiko Yaegashi, Executive Vice President & Director, JGC Corporation.
Hiroshi then introduced the members of the International Advisory Board, consisting of 15 well known project management authorities and professional leaders from around the world.
According to Mr. Kunitomo, “This global symposium is a wonderful occasion that we from Japan could introduce what we are doing. I am very happy and honored to talk to you as a Japanese government official that works closely with the industry that promotes project management. I would like to spend a few minutes to talk about how we at METI emphasize project management.
First of all, we are continuing our support of the promotion of P2M in Japan.
Practice of project management has spread into many branches of industry in Japan. Through the tough competition in the marketplace, the industrial society needs breakthroughs in project management. I believe here is a prospect that the horizon of P2M is extending.
Secondly, METI has started a three-year program of developing project managers in the plant engineering and construction projects. The industry needs project managers who have, not only all-rounded global management capability of projects, but also balanced project risk management capability. Our industry and METI are making efforts together to tackle anew developing candidates for such project managers through the industry’s dedicated development program; according to the tough business environment.
Third, if we look at global initiatives of PM, METI is supporting the Japanese Mirror Committee of ISO, International Standards Organization, Project Committee that is now under way.
The Japanese Government has been pursuing, since 2006, the New Economic Growth Strategy that would realize a renewed, strong Japanese economy. The backbone of the strategy is acceleration of innovation. This strategy shows that under the limitation of natural resources and man power resources, in order to grow stably, Japanese economy will need to lay down five resource categories as fundamental muscles to move ahead the strategy. These five categories are human assets, capital assets or production means, financial assets, technological and intellectual assets, and managerial methods.
I consider integrating these resources and maintaining a fine balance among them in order to conceive and realize new organizational value, is project management of a new breed suitable for solving complex and compounding problems of today.”
The International Projects Promotion Office of METI is responsible for the promotion of the plant engineering and construction industry, and the governmental support for major-sized international projects in social and industrial infrastructures. These industry branches are highly dependent on project management in which you are experts. The plant engineering and construction industry is one of pioneers of project management. METI has been involved with the promotion of project management in Japan over the past 30 years and supported the promotional activities of the Engineering Advancement Association of Japan (ENAA) and Project Management Association of Japan, PMAJ, the organizer of this symposium.
The “International Project & Program Management Symposium Tokyo 2008 – In pursuit of organizational project management value,” is being held in Tokyo, Japan during 10-11 March 2008. The symposium at Tower Hall, Funabori, Tokyo, Japan, was sponsored by the Project Management Association of Japan. The Project Director for the IP&PMS Tokyo 2008 was Dr. Hiroshi Tanaka.
