Participating in the 7th CLMV Leadership Program
Than Soe
Central Executive Committee
Myanmar Young Entrepreneurs Association
Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry
CEO, 7HR Business Group
The Institute for International Studies and Training (IIST) has organized the 7th CLMV Leadership program in order to contribute for the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of CLMV countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam) by providing the opportunities for opinion-exchanges with Japanese government, official agencies as well as members of local chamber of commerce. It also includes site visits to the leading or model enterprises. 11 Governmental officers and senior executives from CLMV countries had a chance to participate in this program, and I attended as a representative of Myanmar Young Entrepreneurs Association (MYEA) under Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) among others. This training was implemented for the period of 21 Oct to 26 Oct, 2013 in Tokyo and Hamamatsu.
The first day, I had a time for opinion exchange on the establishment of rules and regulation, promoting policy of SMEs and how the government of Japan encourage and support SMEs with officials of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Before I came to Japan, I didn't know that there are so many SMEs in Japan. Actually, there are big differences in business situations among SMEs. I imagine Japanese SMEs in particular would benefit substantially from deeper integration with Asia. Considering their limited resources, nearer markets such as CLMVs are most suitable destinations for a firm's first expansion abroad. SMEs account for a substantial share of Japan's economic output, the greater internationalization of Japanese SMEs could be a new growth driver for both Japan and Asia. Japanese SMEs operated mainly as suppliers for larger enterprises as part of the integrated supply chain groups. With some exceptions, SMEs tend to be domestically oriented and their products are exported indirectly via the value chains of large multinational enterprises and general trading houses. Many SMEs expand overseas not only to reduce costs but also to develop local markets and promote local sales.

Program participants at Welcome Reception
On the third day, jumping on the bullet train, we moved to Hamamatsu, one of the industrial cities in Japan. We are welcomed by the members of the Special Committee for International Economy of Hamamatsu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI). Following the lecture on the characteristics of local industry and economy as well as the challenges of the member companies, we had a chance to exchange opinion with the committee members. We have learned their views on investing in CLMV countries. By fully utilizing the available government's supporting schemes, Japanese SMEs can enhance their competitiveness, and there are many entrepreneurs to start up the business. Following the meeting, we were invited to visit the committee president's company, SOMIC Ishikawa Inc., which is producing automotive parts such as ball joint and has almost 50% share of the domestic supply to the major car makers such as Toyota and Suzuki. We had a chance to visit a unique factory "Tsutsumi Auto Parts Cooperative Association" in which 5 different suppliers of SOMIC Ishikawa put their operation together under one roof to maximize the production efficiency and cutting the cost . In this way, the companies can retain the competitiveness in the tight market.

Opinion exchanges with member companies of Hamamatsu CCI
The fourth day, we visited a Unagi (eel) pie factory of Shunkado Co., Ltd., a famous local snack maker specialized for souvenir market. We learned that it's a typical souvenir of Hamamatsu and very popular even among foreigners. Uniqueness of the company's strategy is to limit and select the retailers to souvenir shops between Osaka and Tokyo. In this way, the products can maintain the high value in the souvenir market.
On the final day , we went ahead to Sumida City in Tokyo and learned about how localy originated traditional craft turned into value-added souvenir of Sumida City attracting not only to Japanese but also foreigners. We also walk around the Soramachi Building and Tokyo Skytree, world's tallest stand-alone communication tower. We also visited Daimatsu Senkojo Co., Ltd., which is famous for Edo-komon printing on variety of fabrics and materials.

Visit to Daimatsu Senkojo Co., Ltd.
We just want to thank IIST, METI and other SME related organizations on behalf of all participants for sharing SME knowledge with us. We've learned a lot from the CLMV Leadership Program, specifically, when we visited "SMEs". We have got great opportunities to learn about knowledge, prospective ideas, culture, nature of SMEs, government supporting schemes. All of which is really a springboard for supporting SMEs in our countries. The 7th CLMV Leadership Program was really memorable with benefits for obtaining SME knowledge. Also this program has opened up our eyes to the idea that there is so much that we have to learn about different opinions, comments on SMEs from each country and generate new ideas . Anyway, thanks so much again!
(original article : English)
Related Page
• The 7th CLMV Leadership Program in Japan (FY2013)