Plus W株式会社

Plus W Corporation conducted a joint global internship in August 2024, bringing together Japanese and Pakistani students. While promoting international exchange among the students, they engaged in discussions on the utilization of foreign talent in Japanese IT companies and engaged in developing business strategies. We are pleased to announce that they have successfully completed the 5-day program.

The business environment has changed significantly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the acceleration of digital transformation (DX) has enabled seamless connections with overseas markets. As a result, there is a growing global mindset among students, with an increasing number of them seeking workplaces and roles where they can collaborate with diverse members across borders and create new value in their careers after graduation.

However, there are currently few internship programs that provide actual experience in global collaboration; many seem to be limited to activities such as desktop research. In response, our company has developed an internship program that offers a more practical experience in global collaboration.

Internship Overview

Dates: August 1st, 8th, 19th, 22nd, 29th 2024
Duration: Approximately 3 hours per day
Participants: 9 Japanese Students and 10 Pakistani Students (Details Provided Later)
Organizer: Plus W Corporation
Program Structure: In-person + online

Program Content

【DAY1 (1st August)】

• Kickoff
• Case Study Overview
“Business Proposals for the Utilization of Foreign Talent for Small and Medium-sized IT Enterprises Across Japan” The program uses multiple real-life small and medium-sized IT enterprises as case studies, organizing and analyzing their challenges and current situations. Participants then share proposals on how to utilize foreign talent and develop business strategies for these companies. Throughout the internship, participants engage in discussions and evaluations aimed at creating actionable business proposals.

【DAY2 (8th August)】

• Discussion with Guests: Mr. Ando Kimihide (Honorary Investment Advisor, Pakistan Prime Minister’s Investment Board, and Senior Advisor at Plus W)

“During his 9 years stationed in Pakistan with Mitsubishi Corporation, I deepened relationships with local companies and was awarded the Sitara-e-Pakistan. Throughout my career, I have valued the concept of ‘Connecting the Dots’ as Bill Gates talked about in his commencement speech at Stanford University and have come to realize that daily work and encounters with people often connect in unexpected ways over time. I hope that students, too, will keep this in mind, embracing new challenges with curiosity and gaining a variety of experiences, which will ultimately lead to great achievements in the future, and that they will approach their careers with an international perspective.”

• Discussion with Guests: Mr. Satoshi Suzuki (AI CROSS Corporation Senior Technology Specialist)

“Currently, Japan’s IT industry, despite being a growth sector, is facing a serious shortage of skilled personnel. With the aging population, there is a lack of young workers, and it is predicted that there will be a shortage of approximately 787,000 IT professionals by 2030. In this context, utilizing foreign talent is an urgent necessity. I have worked alongside Pakistani engineers, and I have found their flexibility and ability to quickly adapt to changes to be a significant strength. To collaborate effectively with international team members, I strongly feel the importance of communication and the need to manage expectations. Through this internship, I hope participants will gain a firsthand understanding of the significance of these aspects.”

• Classroom Discussion on the IT Market of Japan / Pakistan
• Discussion / Creation of Deliverables on Creating a Japanese / Urdu Language Guide
Pairing Japanese and Pakistani students to teach each other useable everyday language and creating language learning guides.

Examples of Deliverables

【DAY3 (19th August)】

• Presentation on previous Deliverables / Sharing examples related to Our company’s Initiatives
• Discussion with our Senior Director, Junya Fukui
”Insights into Building a Global Career and Working in a Diverse Environment”
• Group work on Business Proposal Creating / Reporting on Results

【DAY4 (22nd August)】

• Sharing Progress on Business Proposals / Group Work on Creating and Presenting Business Proposals

【DAY5 (29th August)】

• Final Presentation to Company Executives in Plus W
Each team provided their final report on “Business Proposals for the Utilization of Foreign Talent for Small and Medium-sized IT Enterprises Across Japan” Our company’s executives will also participate and provide feedback to each team.

Examples of Deliverables

Participant’s Universities List (Not in particular order)

In this program, 9 Japanese students with a global mindset (including those studying abroad at overseas universities) and 10 students from top universities in Pakistan participated.

【Universities of enrollment for Japanese Students (9 Students)】
Hitotsubashi University, Sophia University, Hiroshima University, University of the Ryukyus, University of Toyama, Kanazawa University, University of Sheffield (England), Sunway University (Malaysia), Taylor’s University (Malaysia)

【Universities of enrollment for Pakistani Students (10 Students)】
National University of Sciences & Technology（NUST）, Foundation for Advancement of Science and Technology, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (FAST), Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (GIKI), National University of Modern Languages (NUML), NED University of Engineering and Technology, University of Central Punjab (UCP), Punjab University (PU), University of Karachi (UoK)

Why a Global Internship between Pakistan and Japan?

Since 2020, our company has collaborated with the Embassy of Japan in Pakistan to support the acceptance of highly skilled IT professionals from Pakistan and to provide education to students at top universities in Pakistan, where over 50% of the population is under the age of 35, more than 20,000 IT professionals are produced annually, and the country is expected to rank 6th in GDP by 2075. To foster new co-creation relationships between Pakistani students, who are from a country expected to experience remarkable growth, and global-minded Japanese students, we have developed a joint internship program between the two countries.

This program focuses on challenges that university students may face in the future. In Pakistan, the low employment rate of new graduates domestically, and in Japan, the difficulty in recruiting and hiring engineers were chosen as key issues. Each team took on the challenge of developing approached to address these issues.

In developing solutions, we invited guest speakers to share their real-life experiences and created proposals based on specific companies, engaging in highly practical activities. Additionally, the entire program was conducted in English, and we utilized online tools to connect Pakistan and Japan for discussions and proposal creation. This allowed participants to gain hands-on experience with processes necessary for global collaboration.

Comments from participating students

Mayu Onozawa (2nd year Psycology Student, Tylor’s University, Malaysia)

I was very interested in the program, which involved Japanese and Pakistani students working in pairs to create business proposals with the theme of “Connecting IT Talent in Pakistan with Japanese Companies” and decided to participate in this internship.

Additionally, I wanted to learn how to build a global talent network using the experiences and skills I acquired at my university in Malaysia as well as explore ways to expand collaboration opportunities with emerging countries.

During the program, I had the opportunity to hear firsthand from professionals actively working on the front lines who are directly facing such social challenges, which helped me to gain a clearer understanding of the challenges and learn effective solutions to address them. Furthermore, collaborating with Pakistani students to tackle these challenges gave me practical experience that I believe will be valuable for my future career.

Muhammad Amir Aziz (4th year Computer Engineering Student, National University of Science and Technology, Pakistan)

It is common for Pakistanis to consider careers in countries such as the Middle East, Europe, or America, where there is a cultural affinity with Islam or Western values. However, I wanted to explore Eastern cultures and consider how to integrate and embrace different cultures to shape my future career, which is why I decided to participate in this internship.

Through the internship, I learned about realities that differ from preconceived notions, such as Japan’s challenges, including declining population, and Pakistan’s potential to contribute to the world through its IT capabilities and growth potential.

Additionally, by collaborating with Japanese students allowed me to deeply understand the difficulties of collaboration across language barriers and time differences. This experience has heightened my interest in working in Japan and has given me a concrete vision of what it would be like to collaborate globally. As a result, I have begun seriously considering working in Japan as one of my future career goals.

Comments from the Organizer

Junya Fukui
Senior Director

In anticipation of the further acceleration of the decline in Japan’s working population, our company has been actively promoting the utilization of Pakistani IT talent in collaboration with both countries’ embassies, local government agencies, and universities.

Last year, as part of the JICS subsidy project by METI, we provided IT and Japanese language education programs in Pakistan. As we continue to strengthen our partnerships with top Pakistani universities, we wanted to offer even more opportunities for students, which led to the planning of this internship.

It is evident that cross-border collaboration and cooperation with members who have different cultures and values will continue to expand in the future. With this in mind, we created this collaborative and co-creative internship to give students such valuable experiences early on.

In the final presentations, each team presented several innovative solutions that emerged from their awareness of the challenges in both countries and the diverse perspectives gained from cross-border collaboration. The discussions were vibrant, and students from Japan and Pakistan, despite their different languages and cultures, engaged as peers with shared aspirations, forging connections that could shape their future careers.

For many Japanese students, this was their first time collaborating with Pakistani students, and vice versa for the Pakistani students. Even in this new experience, they were able to co-create solutions and connect their efforts to the final outcomes, which I believe has contributed to building confidence in each of them. I hope that all the students will use these valuable interactions as a steppingstone to broaden their future possibilities.

Future Outlook

Our company plans to continue organizing and running global co-creation internships on an ongoing basis. Although this program was designed for students, we recognize that many companies in Japan are struggling to adapt to the shift towards a more global organizational and operational structure. We aim to offer similar programs to these companies to help them address these challenges.