The youth have often been pitted as Cambodia’s greatest asset especially in the face of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. According to the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) World Factbook, 30.8 percent of Cambodia’s population is made up of people between the ages of zero to 14 years, 17.8 percent is made up of those between 15 to 24 years, and 41.1 percent is made up of those between the ages of 25 to 54 years. The median age in Cambodia is 25 years.
However, Japan has been experiencing the issue of population aging to an unprecedented degree. More than 20 percent of Japan’s population is over 65 years old, the highest proportion in the world. By 2030, one in every three people will be 65 or older, and one in five people 75-plus years old. The rapid aging process in Japan is striking because of the high rate of economic growth and changes in family and social structures in the post-war period.
NiCam acts as a bridge between Cambodia and Japan in order to send young workers from Cambodia to train and work in various fields in Japan and as a catalyst for the two countries' economies to grow.
What is the Technical Intern Training Program?
The Act on Proper Technical Intern Training and Protection of Technical Intern Trainees (“Technical Intern Training Act”) was promulgated on November 28, 2016 and came into effect on November 1, 2017.
The Technical Intern Training Program was implemented with the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (Act No. 319 of 1951; the “Immigration Control Act”) and related ordinances as its legal basis, but in conjunction with a recent review of the Technical Intern Training Program, the Technical Intern Training Act and related ordinances were enacted, and a significant portion of the provisions under the Immigration Control Act became provisions under the Technical Intern Training Act.
From the standpoint of appropriate implementation of technical intern training and protection of technical intern trainees, the Technical Intern Training Program under the Technical Intern Training Act introduced a new system for licensing supervising organizations, a system of accreditation for technical intern training plans, and expanded the program for excellent supervising organizations and implementing organizations by increasing training periods and quotas for technical intern trainees.
Process from Technical Intern Trainee Entry into JAPAN until Return to Home Country
The main details of the process from technical intern trainee entry into Japan until return to the trainee’s home country under the new Technical Intern Training Act is shown in the figure below.
What is a "Specified Skilled Worker" Residency Status?
In December 2018, an extraordinary session of the Diet passed and enacted “the Act on Amending the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act and the Ministry of Justice Establishment Law”. The main purpose of this act was to establish “Specified Skilled Worker” as a new residency status. It will be possible for industries that are experiencing extreme labor shortages to accept foreign human resources as specified skilled workers as of April 1, 2019.
Under the program relating to the Specified Skilled Worker residency status, businesses, including small and medium scale businesses, in industries that are having difficulty in recruiting human resources despite the efforts made to raise productivity and recruit domestic human resources, will be permitted to hire the foreign nationals who possess certain specialized knowledge or skills and will be immediately able to work in order to respond to extreme labor shortages.
Specified Skilled Worker (i)
Residency status for the foreign nationals engaged in work requiring skills that need considerable degree of knowledge or experience belonging to the specified industrial field. Specified Skilled Worker (ii)
Residency status for the foreign nationals engaged in work requiring experts skills belonging to the specified industrial field.
The Specified Industrial Fields (14 Fields)
(1) Nursing care
(2) Building cleaning
(3) Material Processing industry
(4) Industrial machinery manufacturing industry
(5) Electric and electronic information related industry
(6) Construction
(7) Shipbuilding and ship-related industry
(8) Automobile maintenance
(9) Aviation
(10) Lodging
(11) Agriculture
(12) Fisheries
(13) Food and beverages manufacturing industry
(14) Food service industry