Press Releases
The 3rd Meeting of the Advisory Board for the Promotion of Science and Technology Diplomacy
1. On December 21st, under the participation of Mr. Nobuo KISHI, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Dr. Teruo KISHI, Science and Technology Advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the 3rd Meeting of the Advisory Board for the Promotion of the Science and Technology Diplomacy was held.
2. At the beginning, Mr. KISHI, State Minister, expressed his appreciation for the advices and recommendations submitted by the Advisory Board and the advisor Dr. KISHI for two years important diplomatic opportunities such as G7 summit and TICAD VI.
3. The Advisor Dr. KISHI reviewed his past activities, including networking with the science and technology advisors abroad, visit to Kenya on the occasion of TICAD VI and disseminating science, technology and innovation (STI) in Japan. Additionally, Dr. KISHI expressed his willingness to continue promoting science and technology diplomacy further in order to utilize Japan’s science and technology in various diplomatic phases, such as international cooperation to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
4. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on the SDGs Implementation Guiding Principles. Dr. Michinari HAMAGUCHI, President of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), and Dr. Keisuke HANAKI, Vice President of Science Council of Japan, presented the current situation and challenges surrounding SDGs and STI.
5. Regarding SDGs, the Advisory Board members discussed on the concrete actions based on current circumstances, multidisciplinary cooperation and participation of enterprises, need for new science research system which is based on the concept of SDGs and the role that Science and Technology and academia should play.
The attendees also highlighted the importance of science and technology diplomacy for drawing the midterm and long-term diplomatic strategy.
Reference 1: Science and Technology Advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs
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). The meeting has been held on February 3rd and July 13th this year.