Aiming to Create an Opening for Entering the African Market and to Raise Awareness in the Company

Q.Why did your company decide to take on interns? What did you aim to achieve?

We handle the production and sale of industrial resources for no-flat tires and flexible container bags and run a business for the recycling of metal resources. In 2014 we entered the market in Vietnam, which was to be our hub for expanding in Southeast Asia, and we have been planning to expand into Africa in the future. Ethiopia is to be our opening for this. Industry in Ethiopia, which suffers from a shortage of foreign goods and resources because it is the poorest country in Africa, is undeveloped and the country even relies on imports for tires for industry. At the same time, a huge mass of waste tires are discarded and there is anxiety over environmental pollution. That is why we would like to propose to the Ethiopian government and to Ethiopian companies a project for recycling waste tires using our technology and then distributing the recycled product, hoping to contribute to the promotion of industry and environmental conservation. In order to move forward with this project we needed surveys of Ethiopia and personnel that could communicate with those in the country. Additionally, we decided to take on English speaking personnel as an intern in order to enhance our in-company system for cooperating with foreigners and our English speaking capabilities.

Surveys of Ethiopia, Developing Personal Connections, and Expanding Opportunities for English Usage in the Company

Q.What kind of internship did you run? What difficulties did you face and how did you resolve them?

We had the intern carry out a wide variety of surveys, including of Ethiopian import and export statistics, local distribution costs for tires, and the state of waste tire and scrap metal generation/recycling. We also requested surveys of markets and patents in Europe and North America in order to explore possibilities for sales outlets for our flexible container bags. In parallel with these surveys, we had the intern interview local Ethiopian companies on the phone. In-company, we had the intern give a presentation of the UN proposed SDGs (sustainable development goals), making use of his background in environmental conservation and management. The SDGs are an action plan where companies aim to achieve objectives such as resolving the problems of poverty and achieving clean energy through their economic activity. They are an essential ideal for companies aiming to go global. Our employees had a lively debate over what objectives our company should achieve in business with developing countries. For language, we had employees rotate and do Japanese/English lessons with the intern every day. Through the lessons an exchange was created with all employees and employees also received training in English.

First Step Towards Achieving a Business Proposal and Starting Operations; Progress in Creating a Foundation for Overseas Expansion

Q.Comparing before and after the internship, what effects did it have on you, your employees, or your organization?

The surveys that the intern carried out became the persuasive base material for proposing the project to the Ethiopian government and to Ethiopian companies in the future. In the phone interviews with local Ethiopian companies, the intern obtained appointments with cement companies. Some time ago we had gone for direct negotiations and we were able to propose the use of waste tires as fuel. We will continue to carry out negotiations for a businesses that utilizes waste tires. We have few employees who can speak English at our company and we have been very hesitant to appoint English speaking personnel who can't speak Japanese. The employees also gradually came to look forward to the English and Japanese lessons, which were begun as a measure of last resort, and there were even those that said that "I haven't used English this much in my entire life." We are looking at appointing foreign personnel, including interns, in the future and we feel very glad that we took on English speaking personnel for the building of a foundation for accepting English speaking personnel. We feel that the earnest efforts of our intern have raised the awareness of our employees towards expansion into overseas markets.