I’d been to Dalian from 5th to 8th September.
It was a conference of “New World Champions" that the so-called Davos Forum (World Economic Forum－WEF) over. I have attended 7 consecutive years of Davos Forum that is held every year in January and I have also attended other conferences that the WEF preside over. I think they are considerably familiar for the readers of my blog. Davos Forum of this January and conference at Singapore in June etc are as I have reported. The conference hall in Dalian was a very big one.
The conference was a large successful meeting where about 1,700 people had gathered from 90 countries mainly from Asia. Especially, the participation of young people and new enterprises was great, and was very much crowded. From Japan, politicians like Jyunko Kawaguchi, Motohisa Furukawa and Keiichiro Asao, university people like Heizo Takenaka, Director Nagata of Ritsumeikan University, and Yoko Ishikura etc. were present. Also, stakeholders from wide range of society, mainly business people such as Yoichi Funabashi, chief editor of Asahi Newspaper and Tamura, Administrative Vice Minister of the Ministry of Environment were there. I also met Hiroshi Tasaka and Kumi Fujisawa whom I have introduced on this site recently.
Photo1 With Ms.Tsubouchi in charge of Geneva headquarters of WEF Japan at hall entrance.
Photo2 From left, Director Lee of WEF Asia meeting, Tsuchiya in charge of Geneva headquarters Japan, Ishikura, I and Takenaka.
Photo3 From left, Toru Takanarita the editor of Asahi Newspaper, I and Yoichi Funabashi the editor in chief.
I participated in two panels as a panel member. First panel was “The Transformative Potential of Science and Technology in Asia”. Mr. Graves, the chairperson of this session is related to the production of the program that used as its anchor Ms. Nonaka who later became Chairman of Sanyo electric and was a topic and Ms. Yoriko Koike, one of the star politicians of today. I exchange E-mails with him even after the meeting. Wan Gang, the Minister of Science and Technology of China, is originally a scientist and also was the president of a university. His opinion was also excellent. Look it up on the site of weforum.org.
Moreover, the PR activity for “Table for Two” project which was planned by James Kondo our colleague, Furukawa a Democratic Party congress member, Nakata the Mayor of Yokohama, Chino of Itochu corporation and Young Global Leaders of WEF of Japan is also active and during this meeting Press Release to the world was also conducted. Excellent! It is a practical program based on groundbreaking idea of offering the surplus of the intake of nutrition which cause the obesity and diabetes in advanced countries to the malnourished children in developing countries through WFP (World Food Program). I would encourage all domestic companies as well as international companies to participate and please introduce us to any interested companies. Please read also my support message of this program.
Photo4 Furukawa the congress member of Democratic Party and I in front of a “Table for Two” poster.
On the second night of reception, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao came to greet and then excellent shows with good tempo in large numbers were performed one after another.
Photo5 “Thousand Armed Avalokiteshwara” by deaf young people in reception. Really excellent! Some of you may have seen it on television in Japan.
Photo6 A scene from the reception shows.
The second panel during dinner, in which I participated, was a session on Energy. It was so nice. I met Lady Barbara Thomas Judge, former Commissioner of (Unites States) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who had visited Tokyo Stock Exchange many times about 20 years ago and who strongly supported my opinion related to nuclear energy, almost after one year. I participated with her in BusinessWeek CEO Forum performed in Beijing last November in the same panel.
Photo7 Lady Judge, I and Ishikura.
Photo8 Prof. So (From Dalian. He used to teach in the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University), Director Nagata, I and Tsukamoto the Director of JETRO.
There were various new encounters and reunions. Friend’s circle extended and I also got dynamic energy, it really was stimulating three days. Gained much more encouragement. Our involvement in these activities also seems to have stimulated young people who participated from Japan which is very good. As I always say, future is in the hands of young people.
Photo9 Dr. and Ms.Professor Schwab, Chairman of WEF and I at Japan reception.
Dalian is a very beautiful city. Japan has constructed its infrastructure which is maybe the reason for the hearty welcome. They show us the headquarters of Manchuria Railways, the laboratory of Manchuria Railways, and so on. They are maintained beautifully and are located at the center of city. About 4,000 Japanese enterprises are now operating in Dalian, and I think the contribution of Japan to expand its economy, employment etc. is considerable. Most local staffs speak Japanese in the hotels etc.
I woke up at 5:30 in the morning on 8th and went to Chubu International Airport by 8:00 a.m. flight. From Chubu International Airport travelled to Nagoya railway station by Meitetsu railway and then again travelled to Tokyo by Shinkansen. I arrived at the assembly hall of Japanese Society of Nephrology at 3 o’clock and did the memorial speech for its 50th anniversary. After that, I immediately headed to Science Council of Japan and participated to the 2nd day of international conference “Sustainable Society” held every year. I gave the last (closing) speech from 6 o’clock.
Whew, I am hopping here and there busily.