Press Releases
Courtesy call on Foreign Minister Kamikawa by the laureates of International Issues Presentation Contest
On December 11, commencing at 3:55 p.m., Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, received a courtesy call from three teams of winners and two juries of this year’s International Issues Presentation Contest, and held a meeting with them, for approximately 35 minutes. The overview is as follows.
- Minister Kamikawa congratulated the laureates and stated that she is confident that the participants of this contest will play an active role as valued friends who form a link of “trust” between Japan and ASEAN. She also stated that she will promote Japan-ASEAN relations with consideration to the laureates’ proposals.
- In response, ORIDO Hikaru and SAKO Kai from Chuo University who won the Foreign Minister’s Prize, TSUTSUI Ryosuke from Kyoto University and NGUYEN PHUONG LY (Viet Nam) from Osaka University who won the ASEAN-Japan Prize, and NGUYEN NHAT MAI (Viet Nam) from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies who won the Excellent Performance Prize, made remarks regarding the contents of their respective presentations, comments on receiving the prize, future plans and aspirations, and other topics.
- The meeting held between Minister Kamikawa and the laureates and juries had a very relaxed atmosphere, and there was a lively exchange of views on the future relationship between Japan and ASEAN, and so on.
The International Issues Presentation Contest is an event held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan to provide an opportunity for university and graduate students to deepen their interest in Japan’s foreign policy and diplomatic challenges, and to enhance their ability to play an active role in the international community by fostering their ability to consider, analyze, present, and more. In principle, the contest has been held every year in principle since 1983, when it was held to commemorate the event of the 30th anniversary of the San Francisco Peace Treaty.
This year, in light of the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation, to be held from December 16 (Saturday), the contest, in which international students from ASEAN countries also participated, was held on November 11 (Saturday). The theme for the international issues presentations was “My Proposal: Our Future ASEAN-Japan Relations on the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation.” This year, 139 teams applied, which was far more than the previous year. 37 out of the 139 teams were applications by international students from ASEAN countries.
