International Symposium of ICREMER; speech given by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Botswana.(October 20, 2010)
To coincide with the visiting date to Akita University by His Excellency Mr. Phandu Tombola Chaha Skelemani, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Botswana, the International Center for Research and Education on Mineral and Energy Resource (ICREMER) held a symposium on global resources on October 20 at the 60th Anniversary Hall. In October 2009, Akita University established ICREMER as the base for education of human resources in resource development area with a global vision and also for its technical cooperation with other resource-rich countries. ICREMER has already been cooperating in the project of establishing Botswana International University of Science and Technology and has been accepting students from this African country rich in resources.
To open the symposium, the University President Prof. Noboru Yoshimura stressed, “Akita University wishes to contribute to Japan’s amicable international resource diplomacy, with its advantage in education and research in the field of resource studies”. This was followed by a speech by H.E. Minister Mr. Skelemani who said, “Botswana, while possessing abundant underground resources such as diamond and nickel, remains underdeveloped due to lack of technologies. It is our hope, with collaboration of Akita University, to work on improvement of technologies in the sector of resource development and education of human resources to take charge of such development in the Republic of Botswana”.
The event continued with other presentations and speeches by Prof. Toshio Mizuta, Director of ICREMER, Prof. Jiro Yamatomi of University of Tokyo, and Mr. Hisamitsu Moriwaki, Executive Director of JOGMEC, to explore possible areas of cooperation for international resource development between the two countries.
