The 3rd South Africa - Japan University Forum was held at Odaiba, Tokyo

News

Home
News
The 3rd South Africa - Japan University Forum was held at Odaiba, Tokyo

The 3rd South Africa - Japan University Forum was held at Odaiba, Tokyo

Jul 16, 2017

SAJU2017 group photo

The 3rd South Africa - Japan University Forum (SAJU Forum) was held on July 15-16 at Tokyo International Exchange Center in Odaiba, Tokyo. This Forum, which aims at establishing a framework for academic exchange and collaboration between the Republic of South Africa and Japan in the field of higher education, was held twice in the past (in Hiroshima, Japan, in 2007, and in Cape Town, South African Republic, in 2008).

Japanese SAJU Secretariat's Executive Committee - the University of Tsukuba and Nagasaki University, - were responsible for organization and management of the 3rd SAJU Forum. Additionally, the event was supported by Japanese institutions, - Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), - as well as by South African institutions, - Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), University of Pretoria, and the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in Japan.

Presidents and high-level representatives from 21 (out of 26) national universities from the Republic of South Africa, and 25 presidents and high-level representatives of Japanese universities participated on this forum with the main theme of "Cooperation between universities in Japan and South Africa towards achieving sustainable development goals (SDG)."

After keynote speeches by experts from industry, government and academia from Japan and South Africa, participant divided into four parallel thematic discussion sessions where they discussed possible joint approaches regarding various regional and global issues and SDG.
-Environment & Energy
-Health
-Education, Humanity & Society
-Agriculture & Food

Opening remarks from the President Kyosuke Nagata, the University of Tsukuba, addressed global issues related to lifestyle diseases and proposed solutions in form of developing healthy-lifestyle smart cities in the future.

One of the key-note speakers was from Marubeni Corporation Corporate Adviser and Chair of Africa-Japan Relations Committee, Keizai Doyukai, Mr. Mamoru Sekiyama.

Speech at the SAJU reception, given by Mr. Yoichi Ito, Deputy Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan, expressed expectations for greater development of collaboration between industry, government and academia of the two countries.

The SAJU Forum is expected to promote continuous academic collaboration between Japan and South Africa and to contribute to achieving SDG, in addition to supporting goals of the 6th African Development Conference (TICAD VI), held in August 2016.