On October 4, Dr. Ritter Díaz, Representative Director of JAPOLAC, held a meeting with Mr. Fernando Albareda, Commercial Counselor of PromPeru, with the purpose of explaining the activities and objectives of the Association and explore ways to collaborate with PromPeru in the area of business facilitation between Japan and the Republic of Peru.

The Commercial Counselor expressed his thankfulness for the presentation of JAPOLAC and expressed his interest to collaborate with the Association to support the work of commercial promotion of PromPeru in Japan.

Dr. Díaz pointed out that PromPeru will be an important channel of commercial communication to identify Peruvian companies with the capacity and quality to export to the demanding Japanese market.

PromPeru is Peru’s government agency dedicated to the promotion of exports, investments, tourism and the country’s image.

On September 30, 2021, members and directors of JAPOLAC participated in the opening of the new office of JAPOLAC, located near the old Tsukiji market, in the district of Chuo, Tokyo.

In line with the new digital era, the new office is equipped with a room and large screen to conduct meetings online within and outside Japan.

Dr. Ritter Diaz, Representative Director of JAPOLAC expressed his thankfulness to members and directors for their support, pointing out that the new office will function as an important point of meeting and communication between Japan and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

 

On October 1, 2021, the Representative Director of JAPOLAC, Dr. Ritter Díaz, made a presentation on the objectives and activities of the Association in the context of the Webinar “Business opportunities for Latin American companies in Japan”, organized by the Embassy of Costa Rica to Japan with collaboration of the Center for the Promotion of Trade and Investment of Asia-Pacific and Latin America (AP-LAC Center), based in Costa Rica.

Dr. Díaz indicated that JAPOLAC seeks to become a bi-regional communication platform between Japan and Latin America and the Caribbean in six areas that are key to human development, such as business facilitation, education, health, agriculture, environment and artificial intelligence.

Dr. Díaz also expressed that JAPOLAC’s priority is the support of small and medium-sized enterprises in Japan and LAC, since they represent the backbone of the economies, but require greater support for their growth and development.

The CEO of the AP-LAC Center, Mr. Andres Gamboa, expressed that it is time for Latin America to payattention to the Asian region, in view of the high economic and technological growth experienced by Asian countries, moving beyond the Euro-American vision that has prevailed so far in the conduct of Latin American affairs.

 

On September 28, 2021, took place the closing ceremony of the first short online program between Chiba University and the Panama Technological University.

The short online program is part of JAPOLAC’s Program for University Internationalization, which seeks to introduce practical and distinctive knowledge of Latin American and Caribbean countries (LAC) to Japanese university students, encouraging them to visit and study in the LAC region.

The three-week short-summer online program included courses such as a brief history of Panama and its Canal, Panama as Logistic Hub, Basic Spanish and Forest Engineer in the Central American Tropics.

Japanese students did not only learn practical knowledge about Panama, but also were able to put in practice their international communication skills as all courses were taught in English language, except basic Spanish. One participant Japanese student said, “it seems English and Spanish look similar, but Spanish sounds are closer to Japanese”.

The closing ceremony counted on the participation of the President of the Panama Technological University, Mr. Hector Montemayor, and the Vice-President for Education and International Affairs of the University of Chiba, Mr. Makoto Watanabe. It also counted on the honorable presence of H.E. Carlos Pere, Ambassador of Panama to Japan and H.E. Takashi Owaki, Ambassador of Japan to Panama, as well as Mrs. Itza Broce, Acting Director of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Panama.

The Director Representative of JAPOLAC, Dr. Ritter Diaz, expressed his gratitude to Chiba University and the Panama Technological University for joining the Program of University Internationalization, which will create greater knowledge and connection between students of Japan and the countries of LAC.

JAPOLAC aims at promoting practical educational exchanges between Japan and LAC as well as connecting universities with productive forces of society to better prepare students for a changing labor market.

The Japan Association for the Promotion of Latin America and the Caribbean (JAPOLAC) organized a virtual meeting between the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA) and the University of Chiba, with the purpose of knowing the advances of the Research Center for Production of Agriculture in Controlled Environment (CIPAC in Spanish), recently established in Panama, and the development of Blockchain in the agricultural sector of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

The meeting counted on the participation of Dr. Gerardo Escudero, IICA’s Representative in Panama, who explained the organization’s activities in the region of Latin American and Caribbean as well as its role in the implementation of CIPAC.

The meeting was also attended by Mr. David Proenza, President of the Foundation for Development of Agriculture in a Controlled Environment and CEO of Foodchain, who carried out a presentation on the development of Blockchain technology in the agricultural sector of LAC.

Dr. Michiko Takagaki, Director of the Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, and Dr. Lu Na, participated in representation of Chiba University.

Dr. Takagaki expressed her thankfulness for the information on the progress of CIPAC, which emerged from the academic exchanges between Chiba University and the Universities of Panama and Technological University of Panama. She also thanked for the information on the development of Blockchain in the agricultural sector of the LAC region.

JAPOLAC counted on the participation of Dr. Ritter Díaz, Representative Director of the Association and Ms. Martha Zelayandía, former Ambassador of El Salvador in Japan and Honorary Member of JAPOLAC, in charge of international exchange programs.

One of the objectives of JAPOLAC is the promotion of new technologies in the agricultural sector of LAC such as Controlled Environment Agriculture and Blockchain, with the purpose of improving the working conditions of farmers in the region and ensuring greater food security.