After a great run with Hiro this morning around the Emperor's Palace, we have spent the entire day at the Imperial Hotel at the 2013 Japan-Midwest U.S. Association Conference. The theme of the conference is "Exploring Paths to Sustainable Growth".
The first part of the morning was dedicated to listening to Opening Remarks by Yuzaburo Mogi, the Honorary CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Kikkoman Corporation. Mr. Mogi shares the chairmanship role of the conference with Mr. Michael Moskow, Vice Chairman and Senior Fellow on the Global Economy, Chicago Council on Global Affairs & former President & CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Both of these gentlemen have done a wonderful job of moderating the conference so far.
We heard welcoming remarks from the Hon. Kazuyuki Katayama the new Consul General of Japan in Detroit who talked briefly on the importance of our relationships.
The highlight of the morning was hearing from the Governors from several key midwest states, including Gov. Scott Walker (Wisconsin), Gov. Terry Branstad (Iowa), Gov Rick Snyder (Michigan), Gov. Pat Quinn (Illinois) and Gov. Mike Pence (Indiana). It was great to hear them all speak about shared values and shared interests between the U.S. and Japan and how those values and interests are what makes doing business so profitable.
We also heard from Prefectural Governors who spoke over and over again on how well their
"states" are doing and how "Japan is Back". Gov. Takuya Tasso from the Iwate Prefecture gave us an update on the state of the area that was decimated by the Earthquake and Tsunami. The citizens of Iwate are extremely grateful for the assistance from the United States. It is an extremely exciting time to be here in Tokyo.
Boeing Japan and Takeda Pharmaceutical spoke on "Exploring Innovative Approaches". The high level of management represented here has made the conference very valuable for us.
It has been a great day. We've made many new friends and reacquainted ourselves with the executives from the Saitima Prefecture (Ohio Sister State). We will be meeting with Governor Ueda later this week.
The delegation sends its best wishes to everyone back home!
yes
ReplyDeleteI have never been to any joint meeting from last few weeks but recently came to know about meeting at one of corporate event venues San Francisco and planning to attend it. It will be really an amazing experience to be a part of any corporate meeting.
ReplyDelete