Politics & Government

Expert panel to be set up to review technical intern program

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Vietnamese students learn Japanese in Hanoi in April before going to Japan under the technical intern training program.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:22 JST, November 23, 2022

The government on Tuesday decided to establish an expert panel to review two systems for accepting foreign trainees and workers.

The decision was made at a meeting of relevant Cabinet ministers on taking in and coexisting with foreign personnel.

The panel, which will be chaired by Akihiko Tanaka, president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, will hold its first meeting by the end of this year to discuss the technical intern training and specified skilled worker programs for accepting foreign nationals. It plans to release an interim report on the matter by spring next year and aims to compile a final report by next autumn.

A section to examine the two programs will also be established within the Cabinet Secretariat.

In July, Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa announced a plan to establish an expert panel to address problems surrounding the technical intern training program, such as trainees being used as cheap labor.