On September 24th, the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association co-hosted a Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) virtual workshop with the theme of Building Disaster Resilience at Global and National Levels with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Taiwan), the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the British Office Taipei and the Australian Office Taipei and Chief Representative, Hiroyasu Izumi gave a speech at the opening ceremony.
On March 10th, it was 10 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake. We held a GCTF workshop with the theme of Building Disaster Resilience at Global and National Levels and experts furthered discussions following this. Today, although we had to be online once again, our experts were able to create an opportunity for us all to meet. The three speakers from Japan, Haruo Hayashi, President of the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, Hiro Nishiguchi, President of Japan Bosai Platform and Satoshi Nakamura, Director from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) presented knowledge that is useful for the international community, and it was a very meaningful workshop.
This time the Australian Office in Taipei had joined us as a co-host. The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association intends to continue to cooperate in order to encourage as many partners as possible to participate in GCTF.
The speech from Chief Representative Izumi follows.
Minister of Science and Technology, Mr. WU
Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. TSENG
AIT Director, Ms. OUDKIRK
Representative of the British Office Taipei, Mr. Dennis
Representative of the Australian Office Taipei, Ms. BLOOMFIELD
Distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen. Good afternoon!
In March of this year, ten years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, we held a GCTF workshop on “Building Disaster Resilience at Global and National Levels," and it was a very meaningful event which deepened discussions among experts from around the world.
Since then, with Taiwan’s NCDR taking the lead, we have been in regular communication with Japan’s NIED, USAID and the CFE. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing global spread of COVID-19, we were unable to hold a face-to-face workshop in Taiwan, but we are very pleased to have this opportunity to bring our experts together again today in an online format. In addition, I would like to welcome our new friends from Australia to this workshop.
Twenty-two years ago, on September 21, a major earthquake struck central Taiwan, causing tremendous damage. It taught us that we need to recognize the threats of natural disasters and make continuous efforts to minimize the damage.
Furthermore, nowadays, due to global climate change, natural disasters are larger and more frequent than in the past, making them an urgent issue that requires more international cooperation than ever.
In today's workshop, three Japanese experts, Mr. Haruo Hayashi, President of the NIED, Mr. Hiro Nishiguchi, President of the JBP, and Mr. Satoshi Nakamura, Director of the JICA, will share their perspectives and knowledge that will be useful to the international community.
We are very honored to have these three experts from Japan attend, and the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association will continue to contribute to cooperation in this field.
Lastly, I wish to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to the NCDR and all other people involved for all their efforts in organizing this workshop.
Thank you very much.
