Joint seminar on Concrete Technology for Construction of Transportation and Civil Infrastructure - Issues and Experiences of Japan and Vietnam (Hanoi, Sept. 25 & 26, 2012) PDF version Outline The Concrete Committee of JSCE, Vietnam Concrete Association (VCA) and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) have just jointly organized a seminar in Hanoi, Vietnam. Held on Sept. 25 and 26, 2012, the seminar aimed to introduce the JSCE’s concrete specifications and its experience in the field of concrete technology. The JSCE Standards Specifications for Concrete Structures can be said to be one of the most well developed specifications of its type in Japan. First developed in 1931, the specifications have been periodically updated every five years since. Though JSCE has recently translated the specifications document into English so as to make it available to international users in various ways, including free internet download, this seminar marked the first time JSCE experts directly presented the work to overseas users in this way. During the seminar, experts from MLIT also introduced the technical standards and related commentaries for port and harbor facilities in Japan. This document has also been translated into English for international users, as another sign of Japan’s effort to export its infrastructure expertise. This significant event was strongly supported by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) as well as Vietnam’s Ministry of Construction (MOC), Ministry of Transportation (MOT) and Federation of Civil Engineering Associations (VFCEA). The number of participants attending the seminar, approximately 200 in total, is indicative of Vietnamese engineers’ thirst for information about concrete technology as well as their trust in Japan’s civil engineering. Experts from Japan also shared with these Vietnamese engineers some painful lessons from Japan’s past rapid infrastructure development (such as the durability problem, for example) in the hope that Vietnam can avoid such problems in the future. The seminar was one of a series of international activities being organized by JSCE headquarters and various technical committees with the aim of raising the profile of JSCE and Japan’s civil engineering in the international community. These events will develop a technical platform and a network of contacts from which Japan’s construction industry can become more and more international. At the same time, JSCE launched the Center for International Activities earlier this year, aiming for an "internationalized" JSCE. The JSCE Concrete Committee plans to organize similar seminars in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, etc., in the days to come, explaining JSCE’s concrete specifications and, at the same time, promoting mutual relationships with other countries. Free download of JSCE Standard Specifications for Concrete Structures http://www.jsce.or.jp/committee/concrete/e/ JSCE Center for International Activities http://committees.jsce.or.jp/s_iad/ Seminar Program Speakers from Japan together with VCA officials (From left: Dr. Quoc, Prof. Kawano, Dr. Taniguchi, Mr. Hung (VCA vice president), Prof. Maruyama, Dr. Watanabe, Dr. Tsubokawa, Dr. Yamaji, Mrs. Hao (VCA secretary), Mr. Obatake) The opening speech by Vice Minister Yoshida of MLIT (Approximately 240 particants) JSCE’s activities are highly evaluated by MOC Vice Minister Dr. Nguyen Thanh Nghi Prof. Maruyama, former chairman of the JSCE Concrete Committee, gave the opening speech on the second day