Dr. A.K.P. Mochtan becomes 12th APO Secretary-general
The Asian Productivity Organisation (APO) announced that Dr. A.K.P. Mochtan had assumed the post of APO Secretary-general on September 16, 2019, after being elected at the 61st Session of the Governing Body in April 2019 in Manila, the Philippines.
Dr. Mochtan served as Deputy Secretary-general of ASEAN, from August 2013 until August 2019, where he oversaw the key organisational functions of finance and budget, human resources, administration, information technology, security and protocol, legal affairs, as well as community relations and outreach functions.
Prior to that, he was Director of the JAPANASEAN Integration Fund Management Team headquartered in Jakarta, November 2011-August 2013.
Secretary-general Mochtan has had a long association with the APO. He held several positions in the Secretariat, including: Information and Public Relations Officer; Programme Officer, Research and Planning Department; Senior Programme Officer, Industry Department; and Director, Administration and Finance Department. He has also worked under the UN Development Programme, Jakarta Office; UN University, Tokyo; and UN Transitional Authority, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
“I am pleased to come back to the APO to serve member economies as the 12th Secretary-general. The APO has an illustrious history of 58 years and 2021 is going to be its 60th anniversary. However, productivity gaps in the region remain visible, and new issues are emerging. It is imperative that we prioritise and renew the productivity movement so that the APO remains relevant,” commented the new Secretary-general.
Secretary-general Dr. Mochtan said that his focus was the “centrality of productivity”, and listed six key points; strengthening of partnerships; elevating the standards of the APO; attaining higher visibility and raising the profile of the APO; upgrading national productivity organisations; inviting more strategic partners to join collaborative efforts; and spreading the productivity movement beyond existing members. He added that reform of the APO Secretariat was also necessary to reinforce the renewal of the productivity movement.
After receiving an MA in International Relations from the International University of Japan, Urasa, the Secretary-general was conferred a PHD in Philosophy from International Christian University Graduate School of Public Administration, Tokyo. His undergraduate degree was in Sociology from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia, Jakarta.
During his education, Dr. Mochtan was the recipient of a PHD dissertation fellowship from the Japan Foundation and a scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan. He completed an executive management training course offered by Rights Management Japan in Tokyo; a Global War Games course at the US Naval War College in Rhode Island; and the Peacekeeping Training Course of the Joint Warfare Centre, Royal Australian Air Force, New South Wales. He also filled academic appointments at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and the Graduate School of International Relations, University of Indonesia, Jakarta.
The current APO members are: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Republic of China, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Republic of Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.