The Japan Arab Conference Plenary Session Reflects an Arab-Japanese Enthusiasm in Promoting Cooperation on Scientific Research and Development
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Alexandria—
The BA held on Tuesday, 20 November 2007, the Plenary session of the Japan Arab Conference "A New Dawn: Arabs looking East", chaired by Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria, and attended by HE Hisham Badr, Assistant Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs; Dr. Rawya Saud Al Busaidi, Omani Minister of Higher Education; Jiro Nemoto, Chairman of Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East; Farouk Ismail, Head of Education and Scientific Research Committee, Egypt's Shurah Council; and Dr. Mohamed El-Myatmy, Professor of Economy, Sanaa University.
The participants tackled various subjects related to the strong historical and economic bonds between the Arab world and Japan, which is a main commercial partner to several Arab countries. They also discussed the grounds of Japanese progress in the field of science and technology. Japan succeeded in ranking the third largest economy in the world owing to sound vision, interest in education and human development—the Japanese government allocates 200 million US $ to education, which is 16 % of the country's national expenses. Japan also improved people's livelihood and focused on growth and development issues, especially economic and human development. Japan is among the least countries suffering from unemployment—its unemployment rate is 3% only of its population, which is the least percentage in the developed countries.
During the session, participants stressed the importance of supporting and strengthening relations between the two sides through exchange of visits and establishment of a complete data base on Arab-Japan relations. Participants shed lights on the necessity of strengthening bridges of cooperation between Arabs and Japanese in the field of scientific research, and benefiting from Japan's expertise in genetics and genetic engineering. The Japanese delegation showed enthusiasm for cooperating with Arabs in science and research.