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.

 

The Japan Association for Promotion of Latin America and the Caribbean (JAPOLAC) held a meeting with Mr. Katsuto Kida, Senior Deputy Director of the Planning and Migration Affairs Division, Latin American and Caribbean Department of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to introduce the E-Learning program for Spanish speakers residing in Japan.

As there are many Spanish speaking residents from Latin America who cannot communicate properly in Japanese, the E-Learning Japanese program offers a practical tool to rapidly learn Japanese language, widening employment opportunities, and thus contributing to a better quality of life for non-Japanese Spanish speaking residents.

JAPOLAC was represented by Dr. Ritter Díaz, Representative Director, Mrs. Martha Zelayandia, Honorary Member in charge of the education program of the Association and Mr. Hirokazu Yamaguchi, Managing Director.

Both parties agreed to have further consultations on the E-Learning program to explore ways for potential cooperation to implement the said program.

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.