Ambassador of Japan and special advisor of JICA participate in conference at the University of Santiago

The activity was attended by the Vice Rector for Outreach, the Director of the Department of International and Interuniversity Relations and USACH academics. The conference addressed the recent development of Japan's foreign policy and was prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

With the participation of the Ambassador of Japan in Chile, Mr. Kazuhisa Shibuya, and Dr. Shinichi Kitaoka, special advisor of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the University of Santiago held the conference "Recent development of Japan's foreign and security policy", which took place in the Hall of Honor.

First, the highest authority of Japan in Chile and the representative of JICA met at the Rector's Office with the Vice Rector for Outreach, Dr. Patricia Pallavicini Magnere, the director of the Department of International and Interuniversity Relations, Fernando Olmos Galleguillos, and Dr. César Ross Orellana, academic of the Institute of Advanced Studies.

Afterwards, all the authorities moved to the Hall of Honor where the conference was held. The activity was introduced and moderated by Professor Dr. Rodrigo Álvarez Valdés, who gave the floor first to Dr. César Ross Orellana to give the opening remarks, followed by Dr. Patricia Pallavicini Magnere, who was in charge of welcoming the authorities and attendees.

"Welcome to the University of Santiago of Chile, a public institution of higher and state education with 173 years of history," began Dr. Pallavicini, who then commented on the relationship of our university with the Asian country. "So far only a portion of the humanities and social sciences of our university has been involved with Japan. There is still a wide spectrum of the other areas of knowledge of the university, the incorporation of basic sciences, engineering, health careers and all those where our interests converge".

In addition, the Vice Chancellor took the opportunity to advance important news regarding the USACH-Japan link, and announced that "this meeting is in the midst of planning to create our program 'Center for Japanese Studies', which will be based at the Institute of Advanced Studies and will have the collaboration of academics from the university and academics from other institutions.

Afterwards, the Ambassador of Japan in Chile, Mr. Kazuhisa Shibuya, addressed those present to talk about the relationship between the two countries and the historical context of Japan's development, thus giving way to the main presentation of the day by Dr. Kitaoka.

Dr. Shinichi Kitaoka is a special advisor to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a former president of the same agency and also represented Japan as ambassador to the United Nations. His area of expertise includes the history of Japanese politics and diplomacy. His presentation was entitled "Recent Development of Japan's Foreign and Security Policy" and began by historically contextualizing Japan's situation after the surrender and occupation during World War II.

Subsequently, Dr. Kitaoka gave a presentation divided into two parts: Part 1. Security Policy; which included Article 9 of the Constitution and Japan's security policy; various doctrines deduced from Article 9; the rise of international challenges; recent changes to old principles under Prime Minister Shinzō Abe; and Part 2. Foreign Policy; which addressed the Indo-Pacific relationship; global perspectives and Japan's new ODA policy.

Finally, it should be noted that, according to the Institutional Strategic Plan, the Universidad de Santiago de Chile establishes in its vision to be an international reference actor of excellence, developing a construction and transfer of knowledge of impact that contributes to solving global challenges, and that is why instances of meetings and collaborative actions such as this, focused on strengthening strategic links, demonstrate the university's commitment to institutional and international challenges.