President’s Report on Overseas Business Trip to the Philippines, February 10-12, 2019
This past February I was in the Philippines for a business trip. The main activities of my visit
included a forum held at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the opening
ceremony of the International Station for Tropical Agricultural Sciences (ISTAS), and signingceremonies for inter-university academic exchange agreements with both IRRI and Visayas
State University (VSU). In what follows I would like to give you all a clearer picture of the trip.
1. Visit to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
For this trip to the Philippines I stayed in Los Baños, located a two-hour drive from Manila bycar, and first, I visited IRRI. The institute, which was founded in 1960 and is dedicated mainly
to research on rice, boasts vast land resources for outdoor experimental farms as well as
indoor experimental farms with an artificially controlled environment.
At the IRRI I met with Dr. Matthew Morell, its Director General, and took a tour of thefacilities.

With Dr. Morell, Director General, IRRI

Inspection of an experimental field at IRRIGroup photo with researchers and staff from IRRI and the University of the Philippines Los
Baños (UPLB)While there I participated in an international forum held at the IRRI, titled “Catalyzing
Partnerships in Research Excellence and Internationalization of Education Towards Food
Security in the Asian and African Region.” In addition to providing a general overview ofNagoya University’s activities, I also discussed the state of exchanges between NU andinstitutions in the Philippines and presented NU’s efforts in addressing issues in agriculture
and food security.

Presentation on Nagoya University and its activities
After the forum, Dr. Morell and I signed an agreement on the inter-university academic
exchange between NU and IRRI.

Signing ceremony for the MOU on inter-university academic exchange with IRRI

2. Attending the Opening Ceremony of the International Station for Tropical AgriculturalSciences (ISTAS)ISTAS is an international platform for education and research with social impact, organizedthrough collaboration between NU, UPLB, VSU, and the Royal University of Agriculture in
Cambodia (RUA). This ceremony commemorated its launch.
In my greeting at the ceremony, I noted that NU has been engaged in exchanges withinstitutions in the Philippines since the 1970s that have resulted in a network of researchers
working to solve major global issues. I then happily announced that we will establish the main
station of ISTAS at UPLB, with a substation at VSU to follow an agreement for inter-university
academic exchange between NU and VSU.

At the Opening Ceremony of ISTASI signed the MOU on inter-university academic exchange with VSU later during the Opening
Ceremony.

Signing ceremony for the MOU on inter-university academic exchange with VSUGroup photo of attendees at the Opening Ceremony of ISTAS

3. President’s Personal Thoughts
This trip was a 3-day whirlwind tour with the following major objectives:1) Signing an MOU with IRRI and receiving a donation of research instruments from them for
the Philippines satellite campus of our Asian Satellite Campuses Institute (ASCI)
2) Attending the opening ceremony of ISTAS and using the occasion to sign another MOU
with VSU, whose president Dr. Edgardo E. Tulin is an NU alumnus.
Another important purpose was to have a meeting with UPLB, a long-time partner for over
40 years, and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study for Research andAgriculture (SEARCA), with which NU has had a close relationship in agriculture following anexchange agreement in 1983, so that we could share information and exchange opinions on
future direction of collaboration and other matters.
We understand these universities and institutions in the Philippines have been very active incooperating with NU in recent years to provide scholarship programs for ASCI students,
spaces for collaborative work, and joint research opportunities, and as expectations directed
toward us grow, we highly appreciate your greatest support for our activities among othercountries. I believe that tackling issues in agriculture and food security is essential to realizing
happy, sustainable development for humankind in the future, and that in this area it isimperative that NU seek collaboration to spur new innovation, mainly in Asia but also withcountries in Africa and throughout the rest of the world. I cannot understate the significanceof being able to share an awareness of these and other issues with the leaders I met during
my trip, and furthermore, I was reminded once again of their strong interest in working
closely with Japan, and especially NU, in agriculture and food security as well as a broad
range of other areas. I would also like to once again honor the constant efforts of ourcolleagues at Nagoya University on which so much of this depends.
According to Dr. Morell, Director General of IRRI, per capita rice consumption is decreasing
not only in Japan but throughout the world. However, due to global population growth, weare still facing a rapid increase in demand for rice as one of the world’s three most important
grains (rice, wheat, and corn). This is why the research at IRRI is of great significance as weadapt to global environmental transformations like climate change (especially severedroughts and changes in soil conditions).
All things considered, I truly feel that the launch of ISTAS and its joint research projects andprograms for researcher and student exchanges among NU, UPLB, VSU and RUA (inCambodia) will be a great importance for our future world. That is, its work will play a crucialrole in ensuring food security and supporting the business and commerce that come with it. I
would like to mention that two researchers from Gifu University also joined our delegation
this time to see firsthand NU’s activities overseas. With discussions on the futureestablishment of the Tokai National University System ongoing, I would be thrilled if our twouniversities can incubate more specific ideas for joint research and other projects.