Business and Education Representatives from Japan Visited VMU
On 6 December, VMU welcomed a delegation of business and education representatives from Japan who met with VMU employees and discussed cooperation opportunities.
VMU was visited by Fukuyama Transporting Co.’s President and CEO Shigehiro Komaru and General Manager Yasushi Okamoto, Executive and Vice President of Hiroshima University Prof. Dr. Toshiyuki Sato, Managing Director of the Shibuya Ikueikai Foundation Hidemitsu Murata, CEO and Regional Manager of Asia Pacific at Fives Intralogistics K.K. Goro Okada, and Sales Director at Penta-Ocean Construction Co. Kenichi Honma.
The delegation was welcomed by the VMU Vice-Rector for International Relations Prof. Ineta Dabašinskienė, the Dean of Faculty of the Humanities Prof. Rūta Eidukevičienė, the Dean of the Faculty of Informatics Assoc. Prof. Daiva Vitkutė-Adžgauskienė, the Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences Assoc. Prof. Dr. Saulius Mickevičius, Senior Coordinator at VMU Centre for Asian Studies Dr. Linas Didvalis, and Director of the International Cooperation Department Ilona Kazlauskaitė.
During the visit, the participants discussed the existing and potential areas for cooperation and joint activities. The VMU Vice-Rector for International Relations expressed appreciation of the occasion, as Japan is a highly strategically important country to the university and VMU has signed the highest number of academic contracts with the universities of this country.
“We are very pleased that the student exchange is highly intensive: Japanese students keep coming to study at VMU while our students deepen their knowledge at our partner universities in Japan. We would also like to exchange scientists and researchers and ensure cooperation between the university and Japanese businesses, which would contribute to the development of business in both Japan and Lithuania and improve our relations”, Prof. Dabašinskienė presented existing and potential areas of cooperation.
“Hiroshima University is a wide-profile higher education school, therefore cooperation in research and studies with VMU could be developed in the areas of information technologies, biotechnologies, natural sciences, and economics”, Prof. Dr. Toshiyuki Sato, Executive and Vice President of Hiroshima University, explained.
The visiting delegation and VMU representatives also discussed the possibility to expand student exchange and involve Japanese students in the summer schools organized by the Lithuanian university, while VMU students themselves could attend competitions of spoken Japanese held by Hiroshima University, which is one of 18 partner universities of VMU in Japan. Their joint efforts have resulted in the establishment of Lithuanian Centre of Hiroshima University at VMU, which is coordinated by the Centre for Asian Studies.
Shigehiro Komaru, the President and CEO of Fukuyama Transporting Co., was granted the title of visiting professor at VMU this year for his contribution to the support of close relations between Japan and Lithuania and for activities dedicated to education. “We are thankful for President Komaru’s visit at our university and we are delighted to have a unique opportunity to present him in person with the certificate of Visiting Professor. We hope to continue developing our cooperation together”, VMU Vice-Rector for International Relations said while congratulating the professor.
