Keynote Speech

Dr Hiroshi Takeda, President, Kobe University,
Dr. Caroline Pauwels, Rector, Vrije Universiteit Brussel,
Dr. Wolfgang Burtscher, Deputy Director-General Research and Innovation, European Commission,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning to every one of you.
It’s a great honour to be here at the 7th Kobe University Brussels European Centre Symposium, jointly organized with Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

[Introduction]
I arrived in Brussels in September as Ambassador of Japan to the European Union.
It is clear that I have arrived in Brussels at a pivotal moment for the EU, and as such I have 2 major priorities. One of these is to facilitate the conclusion of the Japan-EU/Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA/FTA) and the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA). 　Our relationship in recent years has significantly deepened and strengthened, but with the prospect of new comprehensive agreements, namely the EPA and the SPA, it is time for us to elevate our cooperation to an even higher level.
My other priority is to closely monitor the Brexit process. The Government of Japan has set up a task force on Brexit, and at the beginning of September, we issued a message to the UK and the EU. For those who haven’t read it yet, you can find it on the Mission of Japan’s website. It is an important 15-page message to both parties in the forthcoming negotiations. I am not going to describe it in detail here, but I encourage you to take a look at the summary on the very first page as it will give you a good idea of our position on Brexit. The crystal clear message here is that Japan wants to avoid any unpleasant surprises or uncertainty, and wishes to maintain an open Europe even after the UK leaves the EU. There is still much uncertainty surrounding Brexit. In fact, nothing is certain yet at this stage, and this uncertainty is a major problem for the stability of our economy. In this respect, I welcome the recent remarks by Mrs May at her very first summit of EU leaders last month, namely that she wishes that Brexit will be “a smooth, constructive, orderly process minimizing uncertainty”. This is exactly what we expect and, as Ambassador to the EU, I intend to closely observe the process of Brexit and its impact on Japan and the international community.

[Science and Technology Cooperation between Japan and EU - 1]
Japan-EU relations do not merely concern economics but also a wide range of other fields, such as science and technology. Japan and the EU, as two of the world’s leading research hubs, have a long history of highly successful cooperation in science and technology. For example, on 01 October the Delegation of the EU to Japan hosted the 7th Japan-EU Science Policy Forum in Kyoto, where the topic was “Nurturing Future Human Resources for Science, Technology and Innovation”. Three weeks later, the 3rd EU-Japan Task Force meeting on Science and Technology cooperation was convened in Brussels. Its objectives included the enhancement of future Japan-EU cooperation as well as the preparation of the 4th Japan-EU Joint Science and Technology Committee Meeting which will take place next year. I believe these events underline the dynamic and fruitful nature of Japan-EU cooperation in the field of science and technology.

[Science and Technology Policy in Japan]
I would like now to touch upon the latest developments in Japan related to science and technology. This April, the 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan, which covers the next 5 year period, was launched.
The question before us is whether innovation in science and technology can foster sustainable and inclusive development both here and abroad. I am confident that this Fifth Science and Technology Basic Plan will deliver a positive answer to this question by providing a roadmap that will lead the Japanese people, as well as people throughout the world, towards a more prosperous future.
I would like to briefly explain the background of this latest Basic Plan.
Japan has long placed tremendous importance in the continuous improvement of its science and technology sectors, and this is perhaps best demonstrated by the considerable number of Japanese Nobel laureates in scientific disciplines. To date there have been 22 Japanese and Japanese-born recipients of the Nobel Prize for achievements relating to science. Furthermore, for the past 3 years in a row, at least one Japanese researcher has featured among the winners of the Nobel Prize in the scientific fields.
I was delighted to learn that this year Professor Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy.
Despite these impressive recent successes, it is important to note that many prior achievements by Japanese Nobel Laureates are already several decades old, and that the groundwork has to be done now in order for Japanese scientists to continue to play a world-leading role and to continue vying for the Nobel Prize.
Meanwhile, our country must also find solutions to challenges such as our aging population, declining fertility rate, as well as the existential need to transform our society into a low carbon economy and to be resilient towards natural disasters. Moreover, through advances in ICT such as IoT (Internet of Things) and AI (Artificial Intelligence), we are entering what is known as the “Era of Drastic Formation” in which the social and economic structures of the nation are significantly changing on a daily basis. In addition, knowledge and value creation processes are changing, as demonstrated by the increasing emphasis on open-innovation in science and technology, as well as the trend towards open-science.
In order to meet these challenges, the Japanese government is implementing a bold policy agenda which will make Japan “the country that is best suited for innovation in the world” based on this 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan.

[Society 5.0]
With the 5th Basic Plan, Japan is proposing a radically new concept: The realization of “Society 5.0”, a society in which the challenges facing all countries are resolved by advances in science and technology.
At the beginning of human history, we lived in hunter-gatherer societies. This was “Society 1.0”. The first upgrade occurred when we developed into agrarian societies, or “Society 2.0”. Society 3.0" was brought about by the industrial revolution and "Society 4.0” by the information age.
We now stand on the threshold of “Society 5.0”. In this era, advances in AI (Artificial Intelligence), robotics, communication, big data and cloud computing will combine to solve the seemingly unresolvable problems facing our countries. Throughout history, developments in science and technology have consistently helped advance our societies and will continue to do so.

[Science and Technology Cooperation between Japan and EU - 2]
The theme of today’s symposium, “Emerging Sciences and a Changing World”, is a particularly important one for Japan. It is clear that Japan must cooperate closely with international partners such as the EU in order to tackle regional and global challenges. The Japan-EU strategic partnership is inspired by the fact that our two regions face many common problems that span a wide range of policy areas such as healthcare, energy, and the environment to name a few. Both Japan and the EU strongly believe that closer cooperation in research and innovation will allow us to better promote the excellence of our research, improve the competitiveness of our industries, and overcome common and global difficulties together as partners.
I believe that greater efforts are needed to enhance our cooperation in all areas, and we must endeavour to make the Japan-EU relationship stronger than ever before.

[Today’s symposium]
I have taken a look at the program of this symposium. The themes which will be discussed range from natural science, such as the Data science and Neutrino experiments, to social science, such as Unity in Diversity, Migration and Security. It is natural and sensible to discuss such a wide range of topics, as there is so much ground to cover when we talk about Japan-EU relations. So I am glad to learn that many aspects of the Japan-EU relationship will be discussed at today’s symposium. It is always a great opportunity for experts and academics to take stock of current affairs relating to Japan and Europe.
To conclude my remarks, I would once again like to express my appreciation for being invited here to speak, and I look forward to fruitful, informative and truly interactive discussions among participants. Let me assure you that I will do my level best as Japanese Ambassador to the EU to help build upon the many years of successful cooperation between Japan and the EU, and to usher in a new phase of our partnership at every level. I hope that with the continued presence of the Kobe University Brussels European Centre, we will have many more opportunities like this symposium to gather together to discuss Japan-EU relations in future.

Thank you very much for your attention.