Conducted the last event workshop 2 of the mentorship education program in the Republic of Uzbekistan

Release Date: 10/26/2024

　With regard to the provision of entrepreneurship education that the Yamagata University Entrepreneurship Education and Research Center concluded with the Business Development Bank (BDB Bank), a government-affiliated bank in the Republic of Uzbekistan, the final event of the project to train local mentors to guide local small and medium business owners Workshop 2 was held. This final event invited all 24 participants to Japan and was held in Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture, where the Yamagata University campus is located.

　Currently, in order for Uzbeks to visit Japan, they must obtain an invitation from the Japanese side and a visa from the Japanese Embassy. For the participants, this alone is a very valuable experience to be able to come to Japan.

　The workshop lasts for 5 days. The workshop included not only lectures but also visits to cultural facilities and companies to brush up their business plans and acquire mentoring skills and awareness to pass the program.

　The lectures included etiquette and etiquette to help participants feel and learn the Japanese mindset, as well as kaizen and lean management, which are the essence of Japanese corporate development.

　The cultural facility visit included a tour of the various cultural/industrial assets on display in the Important Cultural Property facility on the engineering campus of Yamagata University.

Uzbekistan is also an oasis city located at the strategic point of the Silk Road. Yonezawa/Japan share the same keywords: silk and sericulture. In Yonezawa, we visited Nitta Corporation, which has been carrying on Yonezawa textiles, commonly known as “Yoneori,” from generation to generation. In Uzbekistan, self-employment and sole proprietorships, known as family businesses, are the foundation of the economy. All participants were excited to see the factory/workshop, which could be said to be a good example for them.

Company visits were made to a precision processing company and a state-of-the-art knitwear factory in order to experience and learn about their kaizen and lean management on site. In Uzbekistan, major companies and some advanced SMEs have adopted lean management and kaizen, but most of the know-how is imported from Turkey. Therefore, there is a potentially large need for Japanese companies to learn from them. I felt that it was very significant that the leaders of these SMEs were able to experience firsthand what it is like in Japan this time.

On the final day, the students made their final presentations of their business plans, which they had been working on for the past five months. After a rigorous review by Yamagata University professors, all 24 students were awarded certificates. The award ceremony was held at the residence of the Count Uesugi, adjacent to the Uesugi Shrine, one of the most venerable shrines in Yonezawa City.

Before returning to Uzbekistan, our representative, Mr. Omata, led some of the students to Enoshima Island, where they had a pleasant time. Uzbekistan is a landlocked country that requires two border crossings to reach the sea, known as a "double landlocked country. Therefore, there were several people who had never seen the sea. It was their first time to see the sea. We were able to finish the mentor training, a very important project, while seeing the smiling faces of both adults and children, who were excited to see the sea for the first time.