In recent years, the demand for human resources that can act as a bridge between Japan and Asia has been rising along with the rapid global expansion of Japanese companies, especially in the Asian region. As a result, the development of paths to encourage foreign students to work at Japanese companies or overseas subsidiaries of Japanese companies has become an urgent issue.
To this end, the Career Development Program for Foreign Students from Asia (hereafter referred to as CDPFSA) was established by the Japanese Government, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)) to assist foreign students from the Asia region from FY 2007.
This CDPFSA aims to foster development of human resources who can contribute to industry and promote innovation. The fund offers comprehensive assistance, including scholarships, skill development (e.g. Japanese language education, Japanese business education, Studies in the students’ area of expertise) and job search support, to competent and motivated students from Asian countries studying in Japan who wish to find employment with Japanese companies either in Japan or in the Asian region.
The government recruited high-level university educational programs to participate in the implementation of this policy. The Industry-University Cooperative IT Management Human Resources Development Program, which Ritsumeikan University recommended to the government, was selected to be one of the implementing programs of the CDPFSA following evaluation and investigation by the government.