The 95th Installment
Asia and Africa Development as a Code
by Mitsuhiro Maeda
Professor, Master Program of Innovation for Design and Engineering
Looking back, I realize that I’ve devoted half of my life to the development of Asia and Africa.
Writing something like this might lead you to think, “Oh, this is one of those bragging blogs that these international development people do, like I did this and that and it wasn’t a big thing, but everyone thanked me, etc.,” but...that isn’t the case. Today, I’d like to talk about a “battle” that I have enjoyed dedicating my life to. This is a battle to purify my soul as much as possible and convey my thoughts to others.
Those whom I convey my thoughts to are the people who work on development of countries in Asia and Africa in a true sense. Typically, high-ranking government officials are patriots. Patriots are those who are willing to work to the best of their abilities to develop their nation, not minding the sacrifice of their fortune or even their life on occasion, rather, it is a pleasure for them to do so. These people’s souls are infinitely pure.
People with pure souls can see any stains on the souls of others. So, for those with ulterior motives who say “for your country’s development...” but are actually aiming for monetary gain or political benefit, they can be ignored.
Hence, we have to have pure souls for high-ranking Asian and African government officials to trust us, and in order to have pure souls, we have to conduct our lives with pure souls. Not to sound all religious or anything, and I apologize for that if it sounds that way, but tackling projects to develop Asia and Africa with a serious mind is comparable to a code or a “Way” (Perhaps this could be viewed as being similar to the Way of Bushido?) to control your soul to make it pure.
The field of battle is a meeting with these high-ranking government officials. If they think you’re in it for the money or power during the meeting, that’s the end of it. But if you’re able to convey how pure your soul is, then they will help you out like you wouldn’t believe.
Let me give you some examples.
Let’s start with Cambodia.
In 1991 when the civil war ended, the country was devastated with no future in sight. This is when the patriots in Cambodia stood up. In 1994, they established the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) and also decided to join ASEAN. One of the patriots that supported this era was Mr. “B,” the Director General in Charge of Micro-Finance and SMEs in the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft. We have been acquainted for a while now, and he is a pretty good friend of mine.
In January 2017, I met Mr. B at a seminar in Phnom Penh. He asked what I’d been up to, so I told him my team (myself and my students) had been working on the ICT industry development in Cambodia, after which he was gracious enough to offer us an opportunity to give a presentation. In March 2017, my team went to Phnom Penh. The presentation venue was a special conference room in the Peace Palace, the Office of the Prime Minister of Cambodia, and there awaited His Excellency “S,” the Minister attached to the Prime Minister.
It is not every day that you can give a presentation to the Minister attached to Prime Minister in the Peace Palace. Despite my nervousness, I put all my passionate thoughts into words and gave the presentation. How did it turn out?
The purity of my soul and intentions was conveyed!
Mr. B told me later that His Excellency S mentioned that the project sounded excellent and that he asked us to carry on as planned.
When our team visited Phnom Penh again in December 2017, another meeting with His Excellency S was prepared, taking place once more in the special conference room in the Peace Palace. This time, about 30 Cambodian industrial representatives were present as well. A grand meeting held by the Minister attached to Prime Minister with industrial representatives at the Peace Palace! I mean, who is this Team Maeda?! So, how did it go this time?
Again, it was a successful communication!
On the day after the meeting, I received a personal letter from His Excellency S. The letter basically read, “Team Maeda’s project is absolutely amazing, so the Cambodian government will back it up wholeheartedly. Keep at it.” A personal letter from a minister is a full-on diplomatic document, generally addressed to an organization, but only rarely to an individual. Truly, this is the first personal letter from a minister addressed to myself in my entire life.
Kyrgyzstan
As circumstances would have it, I went to Kyrgyzstan in September 2017. My counterpart is the Investment Council under the Kyrgyz Government. They prepared the field of battle for me. It took place over a meal with Her Excellency “R,” Former President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. Her Excellency R asked me, “Why would you, as a Japanese person, be interested in the development of Kyrgyzstan? Are you serious about this?” She also asked me if there was any advantage in getting along with me, i.e. if I had any capabilities that other organizations could not provide.
We dined in what is said to be the best Italian restaurant in Bishkek (capital of Kyrgyzstan), and it was a battle that lasted for two hours. How did it turn out?
My sincerity was conveyed!
Under the instructions of Her Excellency R, two days later, I established an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the Head of the Secretariat of the Investment Council under the Kyrgyz Government, and held a press conference.
The next anecdote is something that came out of conveying the purity of my soul.
I will omit the details leading up to this occurrence, but after a few battles, my soul’s purity was conveyed to Mr. “D,” CEO and Managing Director of the Development Bank of Southern Africa. In November 2016, at the beginning of the CEOs’ Forum of the World Federation of Development Finance Institutions held as a national event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of independence of Botswana, Mr. D spoke in the opening statement.[BC1] “Development finance institutions in Africa are working on the world’s first new development strategy. There is no precedence, and the journey is difficult. However, there are some researchers who empathize with our effort and take this journey together with us in the world. Today, we have Professor Maeda with us as one such researcher in the forum.” (!!!)
What an honor for someone like me! This is literally the proudest and best moment of my life!
Lastly, I’d like to talk about the fact that you’ll never know when the battle finds you.
My encounter with Mr. “K,” CEO of SADC-Development Finance Resource Centre, which has its headquarters in Gaborone, took place at the poolside of a hotel in Nairobi while drinking a beer called Tusker.
In August 2016, TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) VI was held in Nairobi, where Prime Minister Abe attended. I also attended as a panelist of the seminar.
That was my first time in Nairobi. I was so looking forward to going there, imagining seeing all the lions, giraffes, rhinos, and hippos that I even bought a travel guidebook, but the problem was Nairobi’s security issues. With the addition of the big international conference that Prime Minister Abe attended, I was strictly told not to go outside of the hotel except for attending the seminar.
So I decided to relax at the poolside in the hotel, and there he was, Mr. K, who was under the same restriction. Over the course of our stay, I was able to talk to Mr. K for a total of about eight hours regarding various topics. This experience was like a priceless treasure in my life.
Due to the restrictions of character limits, that’s all I can write for now, but essentially what I wanted to say was that fighting such “battles” throughout the year is my current life. There’s of course a question of how long I can last, physically that is, but I know one thing for sure: there’s no way I will have time to get old, mentally speaking.