第58回豪日経済合同委員会会議
豪州と日本、両国間の相互交流、及び経済発展を目的に多岐にわたる活動を行っている豪日経済合同委員会は10月5日、「第58回豪日経済合同委員会会議」を、日豪経済合同委員会と共催した。昨年は中止、今年はアデレードで開催予定だったがcovid-19の規制に伴い、日本と豪州をオンラインでつないだハイブリッド形式で開催した。
開会式では、豪日経済委員会サー･ロッド･エディントン委員長、及び日豪経済委員会の三村明夫委員長がそれぞれあいさつを行い、新型コロナのまん延への対策、カーボン･ニュートラルへの対応、グローバル･サプライチェーンの多元化など本会議の目的について話した。
その後、スコット･モリソン豪州連邦首相が登壇。日豪関係の戦略的な重要性、水素エネルギーの活用などに触れ、両国の関係深化への期待感を示し「岸田新総理と一緒に働けることを楽しみにしている」と締めくくった。続いて日本側の要人として登壇した山上信吾･駐オーストラリア日本国特命全権大使は「日豪両国は特別な戦略的パートナー、その関係は2+2、quadを経てますます深化している」と両国間の関係性の深化を強調した。
共通テーマは「激動時の総力の結集」
全体会議は、共通テーマ「激動時の総力の結集」の下、「エネルギー安定確保のための日豪関係」「アフターコロナの経済･産業の回復」「激動の時代の貿易──グローバル･サプライチェーンの未来」「次世代リーダーズセッション」の4つのテーマに基づき、行われた。
「エネルギー安定確保のための豪日関係」では、Grant King氏（Chair, Climate Change Authority）、南亮（経済産業省首席国際カーボンニュートラル政策統括調整官）氏がスピーカーとして登壇し、その後パネル･ディスカッションではBarry Sterland氏（Partner and Energy Transition Lead, KPMG Australia）が進行を務め、Meg O’neill氏（Chief Executive Officer, Woodside Energy Ltd）、Vandita Pant氏（Chief Commercial Officer, BHP）、北村雅良氏（電源開発株式会社･特別顧問）、宮田知秀氏（ENEOS株式会社･常務執行役員）らがパネリストとして参加した。
続く「アフターコロナの経済･産業の回復」ではMarnie Hughes-Warrington教授（Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research & Enterprise, University of South Australia）が講演。パネル･ディスカッションでは進行役を務め、John Pickhaver氏（Co-Head, Macquarie Capital Australia & New Zealand）、Graeme Beardsell氏（Chief Executive Officer, Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand）、髙橋広行氏（株式会社JTB取締役会長）、遠藤信博氏（日本電気株式会社･取締役会長）らが参加した。
全体会議2テーマ終了後、特別講演「ニューフロンティアでの総力の結集：宇宙での挑戦」が行われ、冒頭、宇宙飛行士の毛利衛氏（日本科学未来館名誉館長）よるビデオ･メッセージが上映された。オーストラリア初の宇宙飛行士であるアンディー･トーマス氏とNASAで宇宙飛行士の同僚として共に働いていた経験、研究について述べ「日豪の宇宙協力が活発になった今、この場で両国の人に話ができることを光栄に思う」とコメントした。その後、Enrico Palermo氏（Head, Australian Space Agency）、山川宏氏（宇宙航空研究開発機構･理事長）が講演。山川氏は、昨年地球に帰還、豪州へのカプセル投下に成功した小惑星探査機「はやぶさ2」に言及し、コロナ禍の渡航規制がある中での豪州政府の特別なサポートに対して謝意を伝えた。
「激動の時代の貿易──グローバル・サプライチェーンの未来」では、Jennifer Westacott AO氏（Chief Executive Officer, Business Council of Australia）、信谷和重氏（日本貿易振興機構･副理事長）が講演。パネル･ディスカッションでは、Leonie Muldoon氏（Chief Executive, Dept for Trade & Investment, Government of South Australia）が進行を務め、Fiona Simson氏（President, National Farmers’ Federation）、Zachary Zeus氏（Chief Executive Officer, Biz Cubed）、森島龍太氏（電池サプライチェーン協議会･執行理事）、鈴木正範氏（株式会社NTTデータ･取締役常務執行役員）らが、サプライ･チェーンにおけるデジタル化の重要性、及び課題などを話し合った。
最後の会議「次世代リーダーズセッション～二国間を超えた日豪関係～」では、正宗エリザベス氏（株式会社＠ アジア･アソシエイツ･ジャパン･代表取締役）、Craig Usmar氏（Head of Business Relationships -Japan, AMP Capital）のあいさつに続き、Luke Russll氏（Senior Legal Counsel ,INPEX Corporation）、秋房千安紀氏（日本航空株式会社グローバル販売部販売推進室･主任）の進行で、Jemma Green氏（Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Power Ledger）、Takero Izuhara氏（Director, ST Solutions Australia）がパネリストとして参加、日豪それぞれの視点から両国での事業展開の課題などについて質疑応答が行われた。
豪日経済委員会のRichard Andrew CEOは本誌の取材に対し、「今年は少なくとも2つの理由で会議を開くことが重要だった」と話す。「1つは、昨年、1963年以来初めて会議を開けなかったこと。2つ目は日豪間のビジネスの重要性がますます高まる中、多くの重要な問題について早急に話し合う必要があったこと。オンラインでの開催は、会議の重要なファクターであるネットワーキングの実施は叶いませんが、必要なテーマを議論するための討議の場を私たちに提供し、深い議論がなされました。
来年、東京での開催の際は。今年話し合われたテーマを引き続き継続し、更に深く発展させていきたいと思います。また、イノベーション、テクノロジー、エネルギー転換、医学、両国の関係性において成長が期待される分野で、新しいメンバーを広く受け入れたいと考えています」
委員会への加入に興味のある企業、団体は以下より問い合わせを。
■豪日経済合同委員会（Australia Japan Business Co-operation Committee）
Web: www.ajbcc.asn.au
The 58th ANNUAL Australia-Japan JOINT BUSINESS CONFERENCE
The 58th Annual Australia-Japan Joint business Conference was held by the Australia Japan Business Co-operation Committee (a committee that carries out various initiatives to foster mutual exchange between Australia and Japan, as well as the promotion of economic growth amongst the two countries) in collaboration with the Japan Australia Business Co-operation Committee, on the 5th of October. The conference was cancelled last year, and while this year’s conference was scheduled to be held in Adelaide, it was converted into a hybrid event to connect Australia and Japan online, in accordance with COVID-19 restrictions.
In the opening ceremony, Sir Rod Eddington AO, President of the ABJCC, and Dr Akio Mimura, Chairman of the JABCC used their opening statements to talk about the objectives of the conference such as strategies to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the response to carbon neutrality, and the diversification of global supply chains.
Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, followed the statements with a congratulatory message touching on the strategic importance of the Australia-Japan relationship, the use of hydrogen energy, and showed his anticipation towards deepening relations between the two countries through his enthusiasm towards working together with the newly appointed Prime Minister Kishida. Shingo Yamagami, the Ambassador of Japan to Australia, then stepped up as Japan’s representative to reiterate the importance of the Australia-Japan relationship as special strategic partners, as well as the strengthening of this relationship through 2+2 consultations and the Quad dialogues.
Acting collectively in times of turbulence
There were four plenary sessions held under the overall theme of “acting collectively in times of turbulence” as follows: Maintaining Energy in Australia-Japan Relations, Building Back from the Pandemic, Trade in an Era of Turbulence— Shaping the Future of International Supply Chains, and Future Leaders—Australia and Japan Beyond the Bilateral.
The first plenary session featured Grant King (Chair, Climate Change Authority), and Ryo Minami (Deputy Commissioner, Director-General for International Policy on Carbon Neutrality, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, Ministry for the Economy Trade and Industry) as speakers, followed by Meg O’Neill (Chief Executive Officer, Woodside Energy Ltd), Masayoshi Kitamura (Special Counselor, Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-POWER)), Vandita Pant (Chief Commercial Officer, BHP), and Tomohide Miyata (Senior Vice President, ENEOS Corporation) as panellists afterwards.
Prof Marnie Hughes-Warrington (Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research & Enterprise, University of South Australia) was the speaker and moderator of the second plenary session with Hiroyuki Takahashi (Chairperson of the Board, JTB Corporation), John Pickhaver (Co-Head, Macquarie Capital, Australia & New Zealand), Nobuhiro Endo (Chairman of the Board, NEC Corporation), and Graeme Beardsell (Chief Executive Officer, Fujitsu Australia & New Zealand) as panellists.
After the first two plenary sessions concluded, a special session—New Frontiers for Collective Efforts – The Challenge of Space—was held with a video message from Dr Mamoru Mohri AM (Astronaut and Chief Executive Director Emeritus, National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan)) to start the talk. He spoke about his experience of working with Andy Thomas (Australia’s first NASA astronaut), and about how honoured he felt to be able to speak at the conference to people from both countries as a result of Australia- Japan collaborative space efforts. This was then followed by speeches from Enrico Palermo (Head, Australian Space Agency), and Dr Hiroshi Yamakawa (President, JAXA). Dr Yamakawa spoke about a return capsule from the JAXA Hayabusa2 spacecraft safely touching down to Earth via the Australian outback last year, and offered his appreciation to the Australian government for its support despite the flight restrictions in place at the time.
The third plenary session featured Kazushige Nobutani (Vice President, JETRO), and Jennifer Westacott AO (Chief Executive Officer, Business Council of Australia) as speakers, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Leonie Muldoon (Chief Executive, Dept for Trade & Investment, Government of South Australia) with Ryuta Morishima (Executive Officer, Battery Association for Supply Chain), Fiona Simson (President, National Farmers’ Federation), Masanori Suzuki (Director and Executive Vice-President, NTT Data), and Zachary Zeus (Chief Executive Officer, BizCubed) as panellists who shared their thoughts on the importance and problems surrounding digitalisation in supply chains.
The final plenary session featured introductory remarks by Elizabeth Masamune PSM (Managing Director, @Asia Associates Japan, Inc.) and Craig Usmar (Head of Business Relationships – Japan, AMP Capital), before a panel discussion moderated by Chiaki Akifusa (Supervisor, Global Sales, Japan Airlines Co., Ltd.) and Luke Russell (Senior Legal Counsel, INPEX Corporation), with Takero lzuhara (Director, ST Solutions Australia) and Dr Jemma Green (Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Power Ledger) as panellists who fielded questions about business development from the perspectives of both Australia and Japan.
Nichigo Press spoke to Richard Andrews (CEO, Australia-Japan Business Co-operation Committee), who shared the following insight:
“It was very important to us to have a conference this year for at least two reasons: first because last year was the first year since 1963 that we had not had an AJBCC/JABCC gathering; and second, because Australia-Japan business is really in the spotlight right now, with very many important issues to discuss. Every one of the “three C’s” – COVID, Carbon Neutrality and China – that we named as our themes, is crucial to the future of the relationship. While the online format this year meant it was difficult to do some of the networking that is usually a key part of our conferences, it did provide us with a really good forum for discussing these themes.”
“[In terms of next year’s conference in Tokyo] we want to develop some of the themes we’ve discussed at this year’s conference into an ongoing dialogue between our members and the JABCC, so that there is a sense of continuity and growth between the conferences. And we’ll be actively looking for new members in some of the areas that we think are going to be growing in the relationship, like innovation and technology, energy transition, and medical science so that we can help to generate more benefits for both our countries and for our members.”
Please refer to the following link if you are interested in joining the committee.
■Australia Japan Business Co-operation Committee
Web: www.ajbcc.asn.au
