Project Management Association of Japan (PMAJ) was born on October 30th as a result of the merger between Japan Project Management Forum (JPMF) and Project Management Professionals Certification Center (PMCC).

PMAJ, an NPO corporation, started its operations officially, with its 2,800 members and 130 corporate members, on November 23 after its first General Assembly of Members and subsequent Board Meeting the previous day.

JPMF was Japan's first project management association founded in 1997 as a spin-off from the famous ENAA, Japan's powerful project industry initiative, and led the nation's professional project management community, inheriting ENAA's quarter century of project management research and promotion asset.

PMCC was given birth to also by ENAA under the strong support of the Japanese Ministry of Economy and Industry (METI) in 2002 as the guardian body of Japan's unique standard, "P2M - Project and Program Management Guidebook for Enterprise Innovation" published in November 2001 which also administers the P2M based program and project management certification system.

The two PM bodies resolved merger at their respective annual GMAs held in last June and since have integrated operations stepwise for reaching a full-service national project management association through combining the resources, built knowledge and experience and good reputations both in the nation and in the global project management community.

The PMAJ Board has elected Dr. Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, President of The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and former President of Tokyo University, as Honorable Chairman, and Hiroshi Tanaka, PMP, as National President. Dr. Yoshikawa, now famous also as Chair of the Prime Minister Koizumi'S Advisory Council on the Review of the Japanese Royal Code, has served as Chairman of PMCC.

Mr. Tanaka, known as Hiro in the global project management community is the founder and National President of JPMF.

In addition, two Senior Vice Presidents, Masayuki Ishikura and Yoshio Sato, both PMP, and six more Vice Presidents and 48 Directors were elected for a one and half year term. PMAJ holds 2,014 certified PMSs - Project Management Specialists, Level C qualification, 24 PMRs - Project Manger Registereds, Level B in Japan as well as 80 each PMCs- Project Management Coordinators, Level D in France and Thailand respectively.