Report on the visit by the Japanese delegation to the Institut Pasteur during the meeting of the France-Japan Joint Committee on Cooperation in Science and Technology

The 10th meeting of the France-Japan Joint Committee on Cooperation in Science and Technology was held on Wednesday July 27, 2022, from 8.30am to 1.30pm, at the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR, formerly the MESRI).

This high-level bilateral event is attended by decision-makers and stakeholders from the two countries in the field of international cooperation in science and technology. For this 10th edition, the Japanese delegation was led by His Excellency Takeshi Nakane, Ambassador for Science and Technology Cooperation in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). He was accompanied by 30 people, including representatives from several ministries (MOFA, MEXT, METI and MAFF), cooperation agencies (AMED, JST, RIKEN, JSPS and NEDO), the Japanese Embassy in France and the Cabinet Office. The French delegation was led by Cyril Moulin, Head of the Department of Strategy, Research and Innovation at the MESR. He was accompanied by 40 people, including representatives from ministries (MESR and MEAE), the French Embassy in Japan and French stakeholders in higher education and research (France Universités, Institut Pasteur, CNRS, ANR, INRAE, IRD, CEA, INCA, INRIA, Inserm and CDEFI).

The meeting, which had been postponed from 2019, was an opportunity to review the current state of bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas. The following topics were discussed:

Research and innovation policy in France and Japan
Bilateral cooperation in the fields of health, energy, agriculture and digital technologies
Cooperation between French and Japanese universities
Scientific and technological diplomacy in Japan and France
Cooperation mechanisms introduced by research agencies

During the afternoon the delegation visited the Institut Pasteur, where the members were welcomed by Stewart Cole, President of the Institut Pasteur, Jennifer Heurley, Vice-President International Affairs, Isabelle Buckle, Vice-President Technology Transfer and Industrial Partnership, and Christophe d'Enfert, Senior Executive Scientific Vice-President, accompanied by Anavaj Sakuntabhai, Director of the Institut Pasteur Japan Office (IPJO), which opened on September 4, 2020.

After an opening address by Stewart Cole in the Salle des Actes in which he emphasized Japan's special place in the history of the Institut Pasteur and the Pasteur Network, Takeshi Nakane took to the floor to emphasize the importance of French-Japanese collaboration. Anavaj Sakuntabhai then presented the priorities and missions of the IPJO, whose scientific strategy is based on three pillars – immunology/infectious diseases, global health and epidemic preparedness – and covers several priority research areas, namely emerging infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, preventable infectious diseases and digital health. This autumn, the IPJO will run the Pasteur Japan Autumn School in Tokyo, in conjunction with the French Embassy in Japan and in partnership with Kyoto University, the IMSUT International Vaccine Design Center, Sanofi Japan and the Japanese National Center for Global Health and Medicine. The Autumn School, aimed at early career scientists in Japan, will offer training in Pasteurian research methods and encourage involvement in the Pasteur Network. The event will close with a two-day symposium on French-Japanese cooperation on global health in the Indo-Pacific region.