Annual Report 2009 - Asian Productivity Organization

INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION
The APO has been making various efforts to maintain close links with other international organizations and national
agencies and institutions of countries outside the APO membership. The International Cooperation Program
is important for the APO to enlarge the knowledge base on subject areas critical to member countries through the
exchange of information and the opportunity to study firsthand the application of the latest practices in management
techniques, environmental protection, and technology in other non-APO countries. Member countries benefit
from this by establishing bilateral business ties and networks with their counterparts in countries other than APO
members. As the network expands, so do the pools of experts and resources for deputation to member countries
under the TES Program and various APO projects. The synergy derived from this collaboration program has created
value and benefit for the APO and its partners.
Joint Projects
The APO collaborated with the Asian Development
Bank Institute (ADBI), Colombo Plan Secretariat
(CPS), National Institute of Public Administration
(INTAN), Pan African Productivity Association
(PAPA), and Taiwan Environmental Management
Association (TEMA). The project jointly organized
with the ADBI was the research on the Impact of the
Global Financial Crisis on SMEs. The workshop on
the One Village, One Product Model for Sustainable
Rural Development was cosponsored by the CPS.
PAPA and TEMA jointly organized Dissemination
of the Productivity Movement in Africa and the
Workshop on e-Waste Management, respectively.
Services of Experts Received
In 2009, the services of two experts were received from
the following organizations: one each from the United
Nations FAO and International Crops Research
Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).
Guest Observers Received
The 50th Session of the Governing Body was honored
by observers representing the CPS and United Nations
FAO.
The 49th Workshop Meeting of Heads of NPOs was
attended by observers representing the CPS and
Productivity SA.
Meetings Attended
Research and Planning Department Director Mukesh
D. Bhattarai and Research and Planning Program
Officer Yasuko Asano attended the meeting on
Measuring and Fostering the Progress of Societies:
Key Issues for the Asia and Pacific Countries, Kyoto,
Japan. Agriculture Program Officer Dr. M. Saeed
participated in the ADBI Workshop on Mainstreaming
Climate Change Adaptation into Developmental
Planning, Tokyo, Japan. Research and Planning Department
Director Mukesh D. Bhattarai and Research
and Planning Program Officer Masaya Amau took
part in the meeting on The Global Economic Crisis:
SMEs and Trade Finance Impacts, Tokyo, Japan.
Agriculture Department Director Song Hyun Choi
and Information Program Officer Sunju Lee attended
the Fourth International Conference on Agricultural
Education and Environment, Hokkaido, Japan.
Research and Planning Department Director Mukesh
D. Bhattarai attended the International Conference
for Administrative Development: Excellence in Public
Sector Performance in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and
introduced APO activities. Research and Planning
Department Program Officer Masaya Amau took part
in the APEC Japan 2010 Symposium, Tokyo, Japan.
Participants from Nonmember
Countries
Depending on the relevancy of topics, the APO invites
participants from countries in Asia and the Pacific
which are not yet APO members to attend selected
projects. From 2006, invitations were also extended to
African countries under the African Program. Twentyeight
participants from the following six countries
attended one APO project in 2009: Botswana, Kenya,
Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia.
APO ANNUAL REPORT 2009 63
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION