HISTORY
JICA Alumni in Bulgaria Association was established in January 1993 in response to increasing necessity of information exchange among Bulgarian experts coming from Japan who had been trained in JICA Centers located all over Japan. Training fields are different but extremely important for economic development of the country. To obtain knowledge and experience of the industrially developed Japan, which is one of the world leaders of all dimensions, this is an opportunity which requires not only individual training but something more important: to acquire and disseminate the leading Japanese experience among people. The present Chairman of the Association Mr Ivan Kolev has been the first chairman in the distant year of 1993. This fact even more confirms a statement that every Bulgarian who participated in a training or specialization in Japan inevitably is influenced by the strength of Japanese culture, traditions and progress.
More than 800 persons of various professions from all geographical places of Bulgaria have been trained in Japan with the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency ‑ JICA. At the present moment, the active members are 250 not only trained and specialized in Japan but also people which are connected somehow with the Japanese people and culture. All members occupy positions of responsibility in Bulgaria: a state with one of the fastest developing economies.
THE PRESENT
The past two years 2005-2007 have been the most active years of the association history. The Managerial Bogy of the Association held 22 meetings with the active assistance of the JICA Bulgaria. The highest collection of membership fees was achieved. The members' database has being updated dynamically because the members participate actively in the economic and public life of our country and data corrections are needed e.g. working place and place of residence. Traditional way of communication was shifted and replaced by e-mail. The Association has its own website and e-mail address.Since the end of 2006 we have been using up-to-date tools for social nets’ development in the Internet environment, to be more precise web2.0 applications as group e-mail, photo album, blog.
For the latest two years, the most remarkable part of the Association’s activity have been 15 events of various topics and held in various places in Bulgaria.Not only members of the JICA Alumni Association in Bulgaria have been participating in these events but also representatives of the JICA Bulgaria and the Japanese Embassy in Bulgaria, local entrepreneurs and experts of the relevant fields.Some of the topics have been, as follows:
ü The challenges and the beauty of many-sided Japan
ü Investment opportunities and manager’ skills
ü Opportunities of tourism development
ü The forest and the forest industry in Japan
ü Ladies’s Coffee – a gathering of female members with Japanese ladies
ü Visit to the newly opened Tocuda Hospital, Sofia
ü Annual conference on training programmes in Japan and their implementation in Bulgaria
ü Results presentation of a special project on the clinic dentistry financed by JICA
ü The Japanese experience of innovation implementation in small- and medium sized enterprises
ü The Japanese experience at environment problem solutions
During the meeting of JICA Alumni of Poland, Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria held in Warsaw in May 2007, the JICA Alumni in Bulgaria Association was highly appreciated for its activity and was honoured as a leader in Central Europe. The President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency has been personally acquainted with our programme of activity.
High appreciation of the Association's activity was expressed during the General Assembly held in September where Mr Ivan Kolev was elected again as a member of the Managerial Body of the JICA Alumni in Bulgaria Association, and later on, he was re-elected as a Chairman too.
PERSPECTIVES
Þ To strengthen the role of the Association as an active partner of the Bulgarian-Japanese social and economic cooperation under the conditions of Bulgarian membership in European Union;
Þ To transform the Association from a beneficiary of the Japanese Aid into a donor of knowledge and experience of the Japanese economy and technology;
Þ To support the joint project on leadership, managerial skills and entrepreneurship of Tokay University and the University of National and World Economy;
Þ To develop partner opportunity and aid granted by Bulgaria to other developing countries in the framework of Official Aid for Development Programme;
Þ To make popular the Japanese way of life in Bulgaria for establishing better society of harmony and beauty;
Þ Continuously to update and expand the data base of JICA trainees aiming potential cooperation with Japanese enterprises investing in Bulgaria;
Þ To increase the financial co-financing and priority of the members of the JICA Alumni Association.