Press Releases
9th Meeting of the Advisory Board for the Promotion of Science and Technology Diplomacy
1. On the 6th, under the participation of Mr. Kiyoto TSUJI, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Dr. Teruo KISHI, Foreign Minister consultant (Science and Technology advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan), the 9th meeting of the Advisory Board for the Promotion of Science and Technology Diplomacy was held.
2. At the beginning, Mr. TSUJI welcomed active and fruitful discussions at meetings towards G20 and TICAD7 to be held in Japan in June and in August this year, respectively.
In addition, Mr. TSUJI stated that Japan would take an initiative to achieve SDGs and strengthen partnership with other countries through utilizing STI, by promoting its effort toward STI and recommendations submitted by the Advisory Board for the Promotion of Science and Technology Diplomacy during those diplomatic events.
3. Dr. KISHI introduced the summary of his activities as the Science and Technology Advisor since April 2018 (efforts to develop recommendations on STI towards achieving SDGs for TICAD7, efforts of foreign outgoing regarding STI of Japan, efforts on building network). In addition, as he would continue to actively work further, Dr. KISHI asked for continuing cooperation of the committee members and parties.
4. Mr. Tateo ARIMOTO, committee member, reported the outcomes of the 7th meeting of “Science and Technology Diplomacy Advisor Network (FMSTAN)” and “G7 Scientific Advice Cooperation on Microplastics Pollution Roundtable”
In addition, towards TICAD7, Mr. Akihiko TANAKA reported current status of the African study group preparing recommendations under the Advisory Board for the Promotion of Science and Technology Diplomacy. Mr. Michiharu NAKAMURA, committee member, made a summary report of the results on “STI for SDGs workshop”.
5. Among the participants, there were active discussions on problems to be addressed from a perspective of science and technology diplomacy.
Reference 1: Foreign Minster Consultant (Science and Technology advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan)
Dr. Teruo KISHI, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo, was appointed as the first advisor in September 2015. Science and Technology Advisor supports the activities of the Minister for Foreign Affairs on matters of science and technology, aims at strengthening the collaboration with the advisers and related parties in the science and technology field of other countries, and advises the Minister for Foreign Affairs and related departments on how to incorporate matters of science and technology in the planning and drafting process of its various foreign policy strategies.
Reference 2: Advisory Board for the Promotion of Science and Technology Diplomacy
In December 2015, Fumio KISHIDA, the then Foreign Minister, gathered experts from various fields of science and technology under the Science and Technology Advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and established the ‘Science and Technology Diplomacy Advisory Network’ to utilize their knowledge and experiences in the planning and drafting process of foreign policy strategies including Japan's top diplomacy and high-level international conferences. As part of this attempt, he appointed experts from the related fields to the member of ‘Advisory Board for the Promotion of Science and Technology Diplomacy’ (currently 17 members including Dr. KISHI).