The Seventh General Assembly of the Council on the Movement of People Across Borders (Strengthening Ties with Neighboring Countries through Public Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange)
February 26, 2007
On February 20 (Tue), the Seventh General Assembly of the Council on the Movement of People Across Borders [PDF]
was held at Mita House. Summaries of the meeting are as follows.
1. Presentation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Secretariat) explained its vision on strengthening ties with neighboring countries through public diplomacy and cultural exchange: The interaction among neighboring countries is active at various levels; it is important to deepen the partnership on not only the activities of the ministry but also those of public institutions and private companies; the ministry explained the strategies for strengthening the relations with neighboring countries and regions - Republic of Korea, China, and South East Asia. (Korea: priority should be placed on intensifying the citizen-level relationship, China: the government plays a dominant role in China, and thus priority should be placed on intensifying the relationship at both citizen- and government- level comprehensively, and South East Asia: priority should be placed on promoting mutual understanding as "Strategic Partners.")
2. Presentation and free discussion by Council members and an official of the Japan Foundation
Council members knowledgeable on the matter in East Asia (Mr. Kazuo Kumagai, Ms. Saya Shiraishi, and Mr. Toru Tsuji) and Mr. Kazuro Kubo, Special Advisor of the Japan Foundation, explained future challenges and their suggestions along with their experiences and private companies' activities. These presentations were followed by free discussion, which covered the current status of exchange activities based on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and the importance of enhancing cooperation between the public and private sectors, exchanges through Manga and Anime, and acceptance of foreign students and trainees.
3. Establishing Special Committee on Policy Public Relations
In order to study intensively the best form of policy PR in the era of the Internet, it was approved to establish a Special Committee on policy PR. The Council decided to appoint its member, Mr. Hatsuhisa Takashima, as head of the committee, and specialists who have a deep knowledge on policy PR as committee members. The meetings are planned to be held around March.
4. Interim Report of Working Group on Matters related to Foreigners
An interim report on issues related to foreigners in Japan was submitted by the working group, which had been established in the First General Assembly as a follow-up of the last Council meetings from October 2002 to October 2004, which had submitted the Council report titled "Reform of Consular Affairs and New Approaches on Issues of Foreigners in the Changing World."
5. Next General Assembly
The next and eighth General Assembly is planned to be held around April and summarize the outcome of the current session of "Strengthening Ties with Neighboring Countries through Public Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange." The theme of the next session will be "Strengthening Japan's capability of disseminating information."
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