A JCCP mission visited Saudi Arabia and the UAE from February 14 to 18, 2008, under the Cooperation for Training Centers program. The mission consisted of two members, Messrs. Hisayoshi Tanda, General Manager of the Operations Dept., and Shigeyoshi Takahashi, Master Lecturer, Training Dept.. The objective of the visits was to promote and discuss specific arrangements for the implementation of Customized Programs Overseas (CPO) in FY2008 (Expert Service programs will be called CPOs from FY2008).

On February 16, the JCCP mission visited SAUDI ARAMCO’s Career Development Department, located at the company’s head office in West Park 2, accompanied by Mr. T. Kinoshita, General Manager of the JCCP Riyadh Office. Members at the meeting on the SAUDI ARAMCO side included Mr. Jameel S. Abdullah, Administrator of the Career Development Dept., Competencies Development Division, Mr. Peter Hughes, also from the said division, Mr. Abdul Majeed from the Ras Tanura Refinery, Mr. Fahad Al-Dhukair from the Yanbu Refinery, and two other officials.

Some of the members of the meeting had been acquainted with each other through past meetings, and contributed to creating a comfortable and amicable atmosphere. In the meeting, the SAUDI ARAMCO side praised JCCP regular courses for their “two highly unique features,” in addition to their outstanding technical content. One of the features is that visits to refineries are always offered as an integral part of each course, and allow participants to observe actual operational procedures and practices at Japanese refineries. The other is that the courses provide a general idea of how Japanese culture and corporate performance are closely linked together. According to past members, the courses helped them to see that the competitive strengths of Japanese companies are firmly supported by the common values of ownership, dedication and respect, which all Japanese cherish in their hearts.

As a result of the meeting, the two organizations reached a basic agreement on the implementation of two CPOs in FY2008. Details of the programs must still be discussed, but one will be a program on TPM (Total Productive Maintenance/Management), and the other, on safety issues.

On February 17, the JCCP mission visited the head office of TAKREER in the UAE, accompanied by Mr. K. Hirano, General Manager of the JCCP Middle East Office. Members of the meeting on the TAKREER side included Mr. Ahmed Herzallah, Senior Career Development Officer in the Human Resources & Administration Division, and Mr. Anwar Mahmoud Ghalib Al Mutawa, Senior Training Officer in the Training & Career Development Dept. The meeting took place amid a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

As a result of the meeting, the two organizations reached an agreement on the implementation of two CPOs for TAKREER in FY2008. The requested themes were human resource management and refinery plant maintenance. Programs on energy savings and heavy oil upgrading were also mentioned as possible themes of FY2009 CPOs.