President of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), Professor Maria Chiara CARROZZA, President of the Association of Italian Researchers in Japan (AIRJ), Prof. Andrea ORTOLANI, Professors, scholars and researchers, Good afternoon and welcome to the Embassy of Italy in Tokyo.
Let me start off by extending my congratulations to the new Board of the AIRJ and saying that I am pleased to host today the third Symposium of this prestigious Association, in collaboration with the Embassy.
Italy and Japan have a long history of cooperation in Research science and technology.
Rome and Tokyo signed in 1988 the first Bilateral Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology. Since then, scientific relations between Italy and Japan expanded, reaching progress in the fields of space, robotics, energy, materials, life science and physics – just to mention a few.
In the footsteps of this Agreement, Carrozza and Dario, Traversa, Pezzotti, Mazzei, just to mention some of the most known researchers, shaped in a very dynamic way our bilateral ties in the field of science, opening the doors to a broader spectrum of sectoral cooperation among many institutional and academic entities in our two countries.
In this context, the CNR signed in 2011 an Agreement on Scientific Cooperation with the Japan’s Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). Twelve years later, a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) was concluded between CNR and the Japan’s Science and Technology Agency (JST), aiming at stimulating researchers’ exchanges.
In consideration of the opportunities opened by the space economy, Italy and Japan significantly advanced their collaboration in space, both in the public and private sector. In 2020, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) finalized a MoC, while joining together the multilateral framework of the Artemis Accords and paving the way to other collaborations, which included our National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) and our National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF).
Energy has been another field enriched by the common determination to deepen bilateral relations in the science domain. In this regard, the new-generation fusion reactor was recently inaugurated, as a result of the joint effort by ENEA, the RFX consortium and CNR, in the framework of the EU-Japan Accords.
In parallel, the academic cooperation among our Universities has also developed creating important connections between our academic communities.
In this backdrop, the scientific journey made together by Rome and Tokyo has reached a turning point with the signature, in 2023, of an Agreement by Italy’s Ministry of University and Research (MUR) and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), in the framework of our new bilateral Strategic Partnership.
Following this agreement, two large Research Projects were launched and are ongoing, one in the field of energy storage between CNR, JST, the Japanese National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and the University of Osaka and one on gravitational waves between INFN and Tokyo University.
On the academic front, we also intensified our efforts. The Politecnico of Turin opened in Kyoto a Japan Hub, the first permanent office of an Italian university in Japan. The University of Turin followed with a double degree agreement with the Osaka University. We organized a mission of a Netval delegation to exchange views on our reciprocal technology transfer systems and opportunities. At the beginning of September we organized a mission of the Italian Rectors’ Conference (CRUI), led by President Iannantuoni, aimed at presenting the Italian academic ecosystem and proposing new bilateral cooperation opportunities, in terms of research projects, joint PhD programs and student and faculty mobility.
All these activities are now framed in the Action Plan 2024-2027 signed last June at the G7 in Italy by our two Prime Ministers, which includes academic cooperation and research and innovation among the seven priority areas of cooperation.
The Embassy is supporting this process with many sectorial events and initiatives and we are very pleased that we can count on the partnership with the Association to help our Universities and research institutions in Italy to expand their networks and cooperation programs with Japan in the future.
Grazie mille e buon lavoro.