On March 4, 2019, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), in cooperation with The Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), held an international conference in Moscow “Russia and Japan: Mutually Beneficial Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region”. The event was dedicated to the Russia-Japan cross cultural year, announced by the governments of the two countries in 2018–2019.
The conference was attended by about 100 experts from Russia and Japan: government officials, representatives of leading scientific institutions, experts on international relations, politics, and economics. The speakers of the opening session included Igor Ivanov, RIAC President, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia (1998–2004); Yevgeny Shulepov, coordinator of the Deputy Group on Relations with the Parliament of Japan; Dmitry Mezentsev, Member of the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, RIAC member; Kenichiro Sasae, President and Director General of the Japan Institute of International Affairs; Ichiro Aisawa, Chairman of the Japan-Russia Parliamentary Friendship Association; and Toyohisa Kozuki, Japan's Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Russia.
On March 4, 2019, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), in cooperation with The Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), held an international conference in Moscow “Russia and Japan: Mutually Beneficial Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region”. The event was dedicated to the Russia-Japan cross cultural year, announced by the governments of the two countries in 2018–2019.
The conference was attended by about 100 experts from Russia and Japan: government officials, representatives of leading scientific institutions, experts on international relations, politics, and economics. The speakers of the opening session included Igor Ivanov, RIAC President, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia (1998–2004); Yevgeny Shulepov, coordinator of the Deputy Group on Relations with the Parliament of Japan; Dmitry Mezentsev, Member of the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, RIAC member; Kenichiro Sasae, President and Director General of the Japan Institute of International Affairs; Ichiro Aisawa, Chairman of the Japan-Russia Parliamentary Friendship Association; and Toyohisa Kozuki, Japan's Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Russia.
The conference participants discussed the role of bilateral relations between Russia and Japan in the development of the Asia-Pacific region and the views of Moscow and Tokyo on ensuring regional security. The experts paid special attention to coordinating the positions of the two countries on security issues in the APR in the context of increasing global instability, the emergence of new and the exacerbation of traditional challenges in the region. In particular, the discussion focused on discussing the current development of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and the prospects for cooperation between Russia, Japan, and other regional players in its resolution.
An important topic of the conference was economic cooperation between the two countries: Russia and Japan have a huge untapped potential in this area. The list of issues related to economic cooperation between the two countries, discussed by the conference participants included: expanding mutual trade, increasing mutual investment and finding new points of growth and areas of interaction, especially in the context of the innovative information and green technologies, as well as the contribution of Japanese business to the development of the Russian Far East.
