The 80th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and Iraq Commemorative Lecture “Japan – Iraq Relations Early days in 1930s and their expansion in 1970s - 80s”
2019/7/18
No. 13
The Embassy of Japan in Iraq in association with JIME Center, The Institute of Energy Economics, (IEEJ) in Tokyo, Japan, held a lecture event titled “Japan – Iraq Relations: Early days in 1930s and their expansion in 1970s - 80s” at the Al Rasheed Hotel on 18th July 2019.
The Embassy of Japan invited two distinguished Japanese speakers over Skype, Professor Shuji Hosaka, Senior Research Fellow, and Ms. Akiko Yoshioka, Senior Analyst from the JIME Center for deliver their lectures to mark the 80th year of Japan-Iraq diplomatic relations.
As the second round of the commemorative lecture series of this special year, Prof. Hosaka gave a talk about our relations in early days 1930s. Professor Hosaka said “The aim of his talk is to find out Japan’s pre-World War II commitment to Iraq in the fields of trade, energy and politics by giving concrete examples.” Prof. Hosaka shed light on some unknown facts about Japan's huge presence in the Middle East and in Iraq in particular.
Ms. Akiko Yoshioka delivered some valuable talk about the expansion of Japan-Iraq relations in 1970s and 80s. Following the oil crisis in 1973, Japan started serious actions to further strengthen relations with Middle Eastern oil producing countries, including Iraq, for the sake of the national energy security. At the same time, Iraq was trying to tackle economic development and needed Japan’s technology and experience. Ms. Yoshioka said “Sharing a mutual interest, relations between Iraq and Japan expanded tremendously from mid 1970s through 1980s”.
Ambassador of Japan Mr. Naofumi Hashimoto commented “I hope that the audience’s understanding of Japan-Iraq relations and its history will deepen”, and continued “I hope the bilateral relation will also be strengthened into the future.”
Many academics and students of the College of Political Science and the College of Arts at the University of Baghdad, researchers from Nahrain Center for Strategic Studies, and JAAI members had lively discussions and exchanged ideas with both lecturers about bilateral relations.
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