We are entering an era in which the skill and knowledge required of decision makers and policy advisers, in both public and private sectors, need to be broad, substantive, and sophisticated. Universities around the globe face the challenge of how to meet the ever-growing demand for quality education tailored to meet the needs of those aiming to work as professionals, and of professionals wishing to enhance their expertise further.
 

        Hitotsubashi University is strongly placed to meet this challenge. Building on its 130 years of experience in providing academic excellence in Tokyo it has, since 2000, established a number of programs offering graduate education for young professional women and men. The Asian Public Policy Program (APPP) is one of the first of these new-generation programs. ¹
 

        The APPP presents many attractive and unique features. The program, offered in English, focuses on the analysis, design, and implementation of economic policy--including fiscal, monetary, and financial sector policies. Students acquire strong theoretical foundations and based on these, study international best practice in economic policy with the use of actual case studies. The university strives to make the program’s student body and teaching staff as international as possible.
 

        With these features, the program targets primarily young Asian professionals pursuing economic careers in the public sector. The APPP’s alumni are spread all over East, South-east, South, and Central Asia, and a valuable network of these graduates is now emerging. We also aim to make the program a “meeting place” for exchanging policy ideas and promoting interactions between policy makers and researchers conducting state-of-the-art macroeconomic studies.
 

I am certain that the APPP will continue to provide future Asian leaders with an outstanding opportunity to receive quality education in economic and other public policy fields.

 

Susumu Yamauchi

President

Hitotsubashi University

 

[1]  APPP was first established as part of the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy in 2000. As a result of the University’s reorganization in 2005, the program now is one of four programs comprising the School of International and Public Policy.