This project aims to promote library culture and service in Myanmar and other countries.
With an idea that libraries offer intellectual infrastructure for people to learn, think, and live their own lives, TRC Library Service Inc. (TRC, hereafter) provides integrated and comprehensive library services to libraries in Japan since its foundation in 1979. Until today, TRC has been expanding along with the growth of libraries in Japan. In 2018, TRC is a leading corporation, managing more than 500 public libraries and provides TRC MARC (Machine Readable Cataloging) service to 2,898 libraries (over 88% of share) in Japan. TRC aims to deploy its know-how and experience in Asia and the world to support empowerment of people through promotion of libraries. In Myanmar, TRC collaborates with the National Library of Myanmar and other organizations to promote library culture and develop library systems for the future of the country.
Our Role
Emphasizing with TRC’s vision and works, GEMSTONE has been supporting business development in international markets to maximize impact through TRC’s rich know-how and experience. Since 2017, GEMSTONE has been supporting TRC from the business’s inception to the implementation phase with our expertise in social impact business development support in emerging countries.
This includes local needs research, business environment research, public-private partnership building, business model development, business plan development and teambuilding within the company. We have been working side-by-side with TRC to develop a business going beyond the general consulting services, for the company’s future as well as the future of Asia. We have also executed a project to develop a proposal for the JICA Public-Private Partnership Scheme (SDG Business Development). The proposal has been approved by JICA and the project implementation has begun in 2019.