Executive Vice-President Kayo Inaba attends the 2nd Mexico--Japan Rectors' Summit (27-28 October 2014)

The 2nd Mexico-Japan Rectors' Summit was held in Guanajuato and Aguascalientes, Mexico on 27-28 October 2014. Professor Kayo Inaba, Executive Vice-President for Gender Equality, International Affairs, and Public Relations, attended on behalf of Kyoto University together with staff members from the university's Research Administration Office and International Affairs Division.

Following the 1st Mexico-Japan Rectors' Summit, which was held at the University of Tokyo in June 2011 with the aim of promoting academic exchange between Japanese and Mexican universities, this 2nd summit was held with the participation of senior executives from 27 Japanese institutions and 52 Mexican institutions, as well as delegates from 11 Japanese-affiliated companies in Mexico. During the panel discussions, the participants engaged in active discussions on the themes of innovation, university and industry, cooperation in higher education, fostering Mexico-Japan interculturality, and human resources formation in the global era.

The opening ceremony, held on the first day of the summit in the University of Guanajuato, was attended by Dr Jose' Antonio Meade Kuribren~a, secretary of foreign affairs of the United Mexican States, Mr Miguel Ma'rquez, governor of the state of Guanajuato, Mr Shuichiro Megata, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Japan to the United Mexican States, Mr Kihei Maekawa, deputy minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and senior executives from the participating universities. The speeches during the ceremony focused on the importance of academic collaboration between Japan and Mexico. The rest of the day's proceedings comprised keynote lectures and four panel sessions.

The second day's proceedings were held at the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes. After a speech by Mr Carlos Lozano dela Torre, governor of the state of Aguascalientes, a panel session was held on the topic of "Human Resources Formation in the Global Era". During the session, Executive Vice-President Inaba gave a lecture titled "Academic Freedom and Global Excellence". The lecture introduced several of Kyoto University's initiatives, such as the Leading Graduate Schools Program and the Kyoto University Japan Gateway Project (a Super Global Program), as well as the university's international strategy: The 2x by 2020 Initiative.

During the closing ceremony, a joint statement endorsed by the participating universities from Japan and Mexico was issued, which declared their ongoing commitment to promoting and enhancing education and research collaboration, as well as industry-government-academia cooperation, between the two countries. The summit was extensively covered in the local media, and was publicized through videos and articles on the websites of the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs, Mexican state governments, and universities.