PASIG CITY—Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) Chairman Cayetano W. Paderanga, Jr. welcomed 22 professionals from Japan who were  in the country for the third leg of the Asian Business Leaders (ABL) Program at the opening   ceremonies held at DAP head office in Pasig City on September 14, 2015. 

The ABL is an initiative of the Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Management that seeks to train and send overseas for internship young, promising, junior-level managers from Japan’s  leading corporations by  partnering with top  universities and companies in the Asian region.  

Through the program, the participants  undergo intensive lectures, discussions groups, fora, and exchanges with Asia’s business thought leaders and captains of industry as well as practical on-the-job exposure to real-life situations, and different  business and cultural settings throughout Asia.

The participants are in DAP for the program’s Module 2, Advanced Development of Business  Competency in the Asian Setting. The module   intends to provide them with additional experiences that will be useful in maximizing the learning opportunities during their internship activity as well as prepare them for navigating within their assigned internship organizations. 

In his welcome message, Chairman Paderanga described the program as very symbiotic both for DAP and Kyoto University.  He also said global economic growth will probably slow down, but emerging Asia, where most of the participants are going for internship, is expected to have the highest growth rate in the next 10 to 15 years.  “We need to remind you about the faster growth of emerging Asia which, we hope, will happen in the ASEAN. ASEAN Integration will be really going full blast next year [and] it will include services like financial integration,“ he added.

The five-day program includes discussions on Asian Business Environment and on selected countries including Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, presentation and critique of the participants’ business/research plans, face-to-face interaction with successful Filipino executives, and guidance on the internship.   

The program is a joint undertaking of the DAP, Ateneo Graduate School of Business and the Kyoto University in Japan. DAP designed and handled Module 2 as well as arranged for the internship of four participants in Philippine companies. (DAP)