MSB Exhibited at JICA Spring Networking
Fair 2024
On March 6th, a networking fair sponsored by JICA was held in Tokyo, and MSB exhibited a booth. The event was attended by JICA scholars and approximately 60 companies that recruit international students from Africa and other countries around the world.
This was the 3rd time of MSB exhibition, and more than 60 international students visited the booth. The majority of the students were from Nigeria, followed by Kenya, Morocco, and Uganda, with majors in management, engineering, and international relations. Most of them were from the ABE Initiative¹, although there were many SDGs Global Leader Course² scholars as well.
They expressed interest in the projects that MSB is working on and gave us comments like “I would like to build a bridge to Japan by utilizing my experience, knowledge and network in my home country.”
Not only international students who have an interest in the mobility sector, but also people from other fields, were surprised to learn about YMC’s new business. Many students came under the impression that YMC was about land mobility and outboard motors. However, when they heard the explanation about our business, which aims to improve people’s quality of life in emerging countries, we constantly received feedback that MSB should definitely expand to their home countries. Furthermore, there were many students interested in learning more about MSB, and the booth wasn’t enough to accommodate all of them, needing individual attention outside the booth.
Although our participation in networking fairs began as a way to identify potential candidates for the internship program, recently, we have been promoting MSB’s business and trying to get our activities out to as many people as possible.
Taking advantage of the fact that MSB is a multinational division, explanations are given not only in English but also in various languages in which our members are proficient. Through facilitating smooth communication with students whose native language is not English, we are able to expand our network by deepening our understanding of their home countries as well as explaining our business to them.
It was a great opportunity to review the improvements and promote our business beyond just working toward recruiting. However, as the number of exhibitors and participants increases, we would like to consider new promotional tools and ways of explanation that are easier to understand and less burdensome for the staff, in order to continue satisfying those students.
Additionally, we will regularly in JICA-sponsored networking fairs as well as other business presentations to raise awareness of MSB and to attract talented people who match with our division and overseas subsidiaries’ needs.
In case of any comments or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Thank you for your continued support of the MSB Division.
1 Abe Initiative: The objective is to support young personnel who can be a "Navigator" for contributing to the development of industries in Africa. The expected outcome of the program is a network of potential contributors to the development of African industries who will also lead Japanese businesses to engage further in economic activities in Africa.
2 SDGs Global Leader Course: Focusing on promising candidates who can become key persons in the future in promoting development cooperation to achieve the SDGs, foster high-level human resources to contribute to the appropriate policy decisions and initiatives of the relevant government on policy issues in each of the fields necessary for SDG.
MARUYAMA Miyuki, Growth Foundation Establishment Group, Mobility Service Business Division, New Business Development Center (YMC)