JEDDAH, 13 March 2005 — Toyota Motor Corporation Vice Chairman Katsuhiro Nakagawa visited Saudi Japanese Automobile High Institute (SJAHI) on Makkah Road, Jeddah, over the weekend. On behalf of the institute Salim Al-Asmarei, Fauzi Al-Thiga and Japanese experts and officials from Abdul Latif Jameel Group accompanied him on a tour of SJAHI facilities.
“I’m impressed by the institute and its facilities and training courses,” Nakagawa remarked during his visit. He was conducted on a tour of the institute’s technical workshops, unit rooms, science, computer and English labs, dining hall, Internet Center and student dormitory. Nakagawa signed the VIP guest book with some words of commendation.
Trainees were particularly thrilled by the visit and interacted with him. “It’s encouraging to see such VIPs visiting us and giving us a word of appreciation,” one of them remarked. SJAHI is a joint venture between the governments of Saudi Arabia & Japan. The institute currently has 400 students — 200 in each of its two-year program of training. It has 31 instructors from the two countries. The first batch of 190 trainees passed out of the institute at a graduation ceremony presided by Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed on Oct. 3, 2004. Japanese Automobile Distributors in the Kingdom (JADIK) and Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Japan (JAMA) have collaborated and given SJAHI the physical form.
JADIK members include Abdul Latif Jameel Co. (Toyota and Daihatsu), Al-Hamrani United Co. (Nissan), Alesayi Motors (Mitsubishi), Abdullah Hashim Co. Ltd. (Honda), Suzuki Saudia Co. Ltd. (Suzuki), Haji Husein Alireza & Co. Ltd. (Mazda), Omar Balubaid Co. Ltd. (Subaru), Bakhashab Bros. Co. (Isuzu, Jeddah), and Abdullatif Alissa Group (Isuzu, Riyadh).
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which represents the Japanese government, has provided its highly skilled technical experts and donated state of the art machineries, tools and equipments for training of Saudi youth in the field of automobile maintenance.
General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training (GOTEVOT) represents Saudi government. Crown Prince Abdullah granted the land for this institute. Since its inception in 2002, it has attracted many people from all walks of life. “It symbolizes the strong bond of friendship between the Kingdom and Japan,” Al-Asmarei said.
