Chie Sakamoto

I was stationed in Indonesia in 2020, and currently my main focus is deepening ties with existing customers and developing new business. In addition, expatriates are responsible for a wide range of tasks, such as creating estimates, supporting the daily operations of the staff they work with, and responding to emergency cases, as there are no fixed tasks for which they are responsible.

When the import of machinery and equipment was being transported at the end of the year, the cargo could arrive at the Indonesian port on the last day of the year. In Indonesia, there are periods during which large trailers are prohibited from driving on the highways connecting ports and industrial parks during the year-end and New Year holidays and the long holidays of Lebaran (the Islamic festival of breaking the fast). For this project, we arrived at the port at the very last minute, deciding whether or not we could drive on the expressway.We managed to clear import Customs clearance and deliver the product to the customer on the last day it could be driven on the highway.

In Japan, you belong to a department as a section member and have a customer in charge, so you can do the practical work of creating estimates, inputting information into the system, arranging trucks, creating invoices and closing, and completing one job by yourself. It was most of my daily work, but overseas my job changed to looking at the whole thing rather than being part of the practical team.
The staff work hard on the daily routine work, so I don't come out unless something goes wrong, but there are times and moments when I have to make quick decisions and respond.
In such situations, I always try to have frequent conversations with the staff and understand who is in charge of what tasks and customers so that I don't make the wrong decisions. We also strive to create an atmosphere where our staff feel comfortable talking to you and asking questions.

This is just for me, but as the saying goes, "When you enter a country, follow the country", so I wish I had studied Indonesian a little more before I was assigned to this post. I thought. Although I am not fluent in English, I am able to communicate with managers, but most of the people working there can hardly speak English, so I worked hard to learn Indonesian. I am now able to carry out everyday conversations without any problems.

Also, don't be shy and ask honestly if there is anything you don't understand or are worried about. Is that what you mean? When you go abroad, there are many things you don't understand, and you often find yourself thinking, ``Maybe I'm the only one who doesn't know.'' However, I think it would be good to practice listening and asking questions to confirm each other. Things progress while communicating, so mistakes can be prevented in advance.

On my days off, I try to move my body as much as possible. Most popular is golf (lol)
Through golf, I can interact with people from different industries, and I often get to know friends from the same generation and expand my circle of friends.
Indonesia also has resort areas such as Bali, so you can go on short trips. There are so many famous diving spots that it is also called the sacred place for diving. You can encounter sea turtles just by snorkeling and swimming.

I was able to improve my level last year, so next time I would like to gain more experience overseas to match that level. Also, I would like to look for logistics + (plus) through building new services in Indonesia and networking with the people I have met.