Damascus, May 18 (SANA) The Syrian Agricultural Engineers Syndicate and the JICA Friends Association held a seminar in Damascus Monday on applying Japan‘s Kaizen methodology — a management philosophy centered on continuous improvement — to Syria‘s agricultural sector, with the aim of addressing productivity gaps, reducing waste, and raising operational efficiency.
The seminar, which was attended by 25 agricultural engineers, was organized under a memorandum of understanding between the two bodies. Syndicate head Mustafa al-Mustafa told SANA that the event was designed to raise engineers’ professional capabilities and contribute to developing the agricultural sector by drawing on Japanese expertise and experience. He noted Japan’s ability to overcome the aftermath of war and rebuild toward development and progress, describing it as a relevant model for Syria’s current recovery phase.
Chairman of the JICA Friends Association Mustafa al-Aghbar said the seminar serves as an introduction to the Kaizen philosophy, which forms part of Japan’s broader management culture and can be applied across various sectors and institutions, including agriculture. He stressed that practical application ultimately depends on the willingness of farms, agricultural facilities, and agri-industrial enterprises to adopt the approach, and called for wider dissemination of a continuous improvement culture given its positive impact on work environments and production.
Participants highlighted the value of drawing on Japanese management expertise and called for expanding such training programs to strengthen professional competency and improve productivity across the agricultural sector.
Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy based on the principle of continuous improvement through incremental change. In agriculture, it is applied to reduce waste of resources, energy, and crops, improve production quality, and increase the operational efficiency of farms and small agricultural enterprises.
KhA
