Message from the President

Based on a philosophy of contributing to the globalization of people and businesses, The Institute for International Business Communication (IIBC) has long conducted activities aimed at enhancing English communication skills and nurturing global talent.

At the center of our activities is the TOEIC Program, developed in collaboration with ETS, a world-leading nonprofit organization in the testing industry based in the United States, and which we launched in Japan in 1979. Over the 45 years since then, the TOEIC Program has been recognized as a valid, fair, and reliable test that delivers equal scores for equal English ability levels, no matter when or where the test is taken. As a measure for gauging English proficiency, it is now administered in over 160 countries worldwide.

In Japan nowadays, we are seeing growing inbound tourism demand and a rise in direct investments by foreign enterprises. To respond to these trends, it is becoming ever more vital to reduce language barriers and enhance Japan's attractiveness internationally as a destination for tourism and business. Globally, however, issues such as mounting geopolitical risks and increasingly devastating natural disasters are making their presence felt, raising significant concerns about the future of globalization. In this context, the importance of conveying/receiving information and conducting direct communication in English, the shared language of our world, is expected to increase further as Japanese companies focus on seizing growth opportunities overseas.

In the past few years, we have seen transformative development and evolution in the realm of generative AI. These developments are necessitating substantial changes to IIBC's operations, including in the ways we administer tests, and assess and score test takers’ performance under the TOEIC Program, as well as in the nature of English learning itself. Furthermore, in the field of foreign language learning, the relative value of mere knowledge and experience is declining, while the importance of mutual understanding and awareness-raising across cultures looks set to grow.

By grasping such changes in science/technology and market needs, IIBC, in partnership with ETS, will be working to raise the quality of the TOEIC Program to an even higher level. And by integrating evolving technology with the expertise we have accumulated over many years, we will be offering a wide array of innovative services, and thereby further contributing to the globalization of people and businesses.