MC(Ohto)
Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like to thank you for joining us for this Second
International Symposium on Strategies for Regional and International
Collaboration in Science and Technology. My name is Norio Ohto, Director at
the Takeda Foundation, and I will be serving as MC at this symposium. This is
the second international symposium on strategies for international collaborationin science and technology. The First Symposium was held in May at this venue
where we introduced the Asia Research Area concept that will serve as aplatform for Japan and Asia to collaborate in science and technology. The Asia
Research Area concept includes funding for cross-border collaborative researchin Asia, regional building of human capacity, and the sharing and utilization ofregional research infrastructure to boost the competitive research capacity of theregion. At the end of May of this year, a trilateral summit was held on Cheju
Island involving Japan, China, and South Korea where an agreement wasreached to promote international collaboration among the three nations similar tothe ARA concept. This initiative proposed by the Japanese government has
since moved forward. Today we would like to share the progress thus made, andto introduce the activities of social entrepreneurs active with counterparts in Asia.
We are delivering this symposium with the support of the Ministry of Education,Sports, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Trade,
the Cabinet Office, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I would like to take thisopportunity to extend our heartfelt gratitude for this support.
Ladies and Gentlemen, representing our co-sponsors, we would like to invite Mr.
Katsuyoshi Asahioka, Director of the Board of the Engineering Academy ofJapan to give us some opening remarks. The Engineering Academy of Japan is
an organization comprising leading academics who have come together tocontribute to the advancement of engineering, science and technology, and is abody also responsible for making policy proposals. Mr. Asahioka also serves as
the Vice Chairman of the Committee on Technology Policy, the core committee
responsible for policy proposals. Mr. Asahioka, please.
Mr. Asahioka
Thank you very much for the kind introduction. I am Katsuyoshi Asahioka,
Director of the Board of the Engineering Academy of Japan. I would like to thankyou all for joining us today despite your busy schedules at this year end.
1Representing the co-sponsors, I would like to present some opening remarks.
This serves as the Second International Symposium on Strategies for Regionaland International Collaboration in Science and Technology as we work toward
the co-creation of innovation in Asia. We will be engaging in a panel discussion
as well as citing some examples of concrete progress that has been made. In
2008, the world was overcome by a financial crisis triggered by the Lehman
Crisis, and this world economic crisis has had far-reaching consequences on theactual state of the economy. This is not restricted to Japan, but also the rest of
the world. As we look back on the changes that have taken place in the last year,
the progress has been phenomenal. First and foremost, the emerging nations in
the Asian region have been able to overcome the economic crisis, and have now
landed on a route to economic growth. In Japan, as you are well aware throughcoverage in the media, we have been exposed to a variety of indicators, forexample, GDP, rankings of international competitiveness, as well as rankings ofuniversities, that suggest a decline in the influence of Japan in internationalsociety. This indicates that, indeed, Japan has been facing a critical situation.
Japan has made investments in Asia as well as in the development of humanresource capacity. We have a history of collaborating with our Asian
counterparts. However, looking back on the year just passed, we find that China
is at the fore, and also that there is an enhancement in the sophistication of theindustrial capacity and economic structure of Asia as a whole. The creation ofthe East Asian Science and Innovation Area has been proposed by Japanese
government to be able to address issues related to infrastructure, as well as
energy, resources, the environment, and the effects of aging populations
together with our Asian counterparts,. These are issues that not only Japan
confronts, but, indeed, have become universal issues. The roles to be played byscience and technology in overcoming these problems will become more
pronounced. Looking at the industrial community, we are exposed by theappreciation of the yen, and in response, many industries have been moving the
manufacturing bases offshore. There is about 36 trillion yen worth of investmentthat has been moved offshore, which translates roughly to about 7% of the GDP.
There is also competition for outstanding human resources that has become
intense. Of course, we find that at home, here in Japan, the issue of employment
is a very serious one. Recently, new social infrastructure businesses including asmart city represented by the smart grid water, renewable energy, traffic, andurban development are becoming major industries that mount up to 40 trillion
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dollars in business, and developing Asian countries are now becoming thecenter of these businesses. Then we see new innovations such as the rise of
3-D television, mobile handsets utilizing 3-D technology, and e-books. As we areseeing increased sophistication in industries Asia-wide, it seems that the generaltrend has been exposed to dramatic changes. And as we look toward the future,
I believe that the trend will not change, and we can expect to see liquidity inhuman resources. Recently, we also see the importance rare metals and energy,
which points out the need for energy diplomacy and science and technology
diplomacy. It is important to integrate the economy and science and technology
into our diplomatic endeavors. We will reach a crossroads in the next year where
we must integrate our forces in order to compete. The coming two or three years
will, indeed, be a test for Japan as the sense of crisis becomes diluted here inJapan. The issues are not limited to science and technology: we will also need toaddress innovation policies and face the need of securing outstanding humanresources. At the outset of the symposium we will discuss the importance ofscience and technology diplomacy as a vision for Japan. As Asia is activelytrying to incorporate technology from Japan, the question is whether Japan will
be able to respond, not merely by dispensing technology, but also be able toleverage and utilize science and technology for future development. In thesecond half of this symposium we will see several examples of co-creation ofinnovation in Asia. Since the presence of Japan has been diluting, the questionis how we will be able to respond to issues of global importance, as well as
issues specific to Asia. I hope that the panel discussion will allow a very active
and productive discussion that will allow us to pave the way for the future so that
we will be able to seek resolutions for the issues that we face. Thank you verymuch for your kind attention.

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