At the invitation of the President of Tohoku University, AIT President Said Irandoust will be traveling to Japan on 27 August 2007 to take part in the university's Centenary Anniversary Celebrations.
During his visit, he will also be meeting with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan regarding the AIT Charter and meet with other related government agencies and partner institutions. Later in the year, from 5-9 October in Japan, the AIT President will be taking part in the 3rd Asian Science and Technology Forum (ASTF) and the Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum. All the costs related to his travel will be sponsored by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).
The ASTF event, which will take place on 5 October in Tokyo, aims to probe the environmental and energy issues, natural disasters, and infectious diseases that are shared by Asian nations, so that they can work together proactively in dealing with those issues from the perspective of science and technology. The theme of the forum is "Challenges for Science and Technology in Achieving Sustainable Development in Asia".
The STS forum, which is sponsored by the Government of Japan, will be held immediately after the ASTF from 7 to 9 October in Kyoto. H.E. Mr. Koji Omi, Minister of Finance, Government of Japan, is the Founder and Chairman of the Forum. The Forum will bring together leading researchers and policymakers from around the world to discuss various aspects of science and technology in society and raise public awareness of these issues.
According to AIT President, AIT enjoys close and cordial ties with the Government of Japan and considers Japan an important partner and valuable resource in fulfilling its mission of capacity building and sustainable development in the region. AIT has over the past five decades provided an important platform and served as a hub for various development collaborations and partnerships, while being actively engaged in advanced technology directly applied to answer the concerns and needs of communities, enterprises and nations.
The AIT President, therefore, sees complementarities and synergies between AIT's role and the objectives of the above events, which are both aimed at exploring opportunities arising from science and technology to solve the problems facing mankind.