Category: DEVNET

By Ramesh Jaura and Katsuhiro Asagiri

BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN) – “My tenure in India was an awakening to me,” says Hideaki Domichi who was Japan’s Ambassador to that huge country with a population of more than 1.2 billion, which is “very poor” but also has “very rich people who are trading globally”.

Having spent some four decades with Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and as a diplomat in the U.S., Egypt, Iran, Indonesia and India, Mr Domichi is not only immune to any “cultural shocks”, as he said, but also capable of shedding prejudices and willing to open up to new ideas and perceptions.

By Fumiyasu Akegawa*

This advertorial is part of IDN’s media project jointly with Global Cooperation Council and DEVNET Japan.

TOKYO – After ensuring cooperation from associated government ministries in Japan and United Nations organizations such as the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as well as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), DEVNET Japan is in the process of launching agricultural cooperatives in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar – the mainland Southeast Asian countries, historically known as Indochina.

By Lim Kooi Fong*

BANGKOK (IDN) – One of the most enduring images of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej is that he is almost always seen with a camera around his neck or in his hand during his time visiting regions within Thailand, checking on projects, which he personally supported and followed up.For over 70 years of his reign,

Thailand’s much loved monarch kept a promise – the promise that he would reign with righteousness for the benefit and happiness of the Siamese people. JAPANESE

 Viewpoint by Naomi Yoshimura*

TOKYO (IDN) – While average life expectancy in Japan is the longest in the world, health expectancy, in terms of the period a person lives a healthy life without being constrained to receive care, is lagging far behind.

The Japanese people suffer the longest period of illness on average – ten years as compared to six to eight years in other developed countries. Japan also has the largest number of people in the world, who are 60-year old or even older. JAPANESE

By Toshiaki Kitazato*

KUMAMOTO, Japan (IDN) – In April this year, two major earthquakes struck Kumamoto on the island of Kyushu, southern Japan, where I live and work as a lawyer.

I was resting in my house when a magnitude 6.2 earthquake with an epicentre at a depth of around 11 km struck at 21:26 on April 14. Less than two days later, this was followed by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake at 1:26.

In fear of my life, I spent three nights in a car outside the house with my family. Luckily enough, all of us were safe and my house only received minor damage, while the walls surrounding my house collapsed. JAPANESE

By Rakesh Jayawardene

NEW DELHI (IDN) – Despite the widely reported phenomenal growth in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the Asia-Pacific region, a new study by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), has found that broadband capabilities and access are highly concentrated in East and North-East Asia. GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE | SPANISH

The report titled, State of ICT in Asia and the Pacific 2016: Uncovering the Widening Broadband Divide, also confirms that the gap between advanced and developing countries in fixed broadband access is indeed widening, and unless targeted policy interventions are put in place, the trend will continue to the detriment of future development opportunities.

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – A high-ranking United Nations official has stressed the need to translate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into national planning and budgetary processes.

This is particularly important in countries with special needs, declared the head of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) on the sidelines of the fifth biennial high-level meeting of the Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) in New York on July 21. GERMAN | HINDI | SPANISH

Viewpoint by Katsuei Hirasawa *

TOKYO (IDN) – The world is now shaken by the terror of Islamic extremists and Japan is not unrelated to this terrorism.

Japan is an island nation that does not have a direct border with another country. We do not accept many immigrants as in Western countries and, therefore, we do not take enough counter-terrorism measures because of our peace of mind as a unified nation.

Some of us even regard large-scale terrorist attacks in many parts of the world as the opposite bank of the fire. In the past, the Asama-Sansō hostage-taking case and JAL plane hijacking by the Coalition Red Army occurred, which were theatrical crimes and were reported live on TV. Most Japanese people may have not recognised them as terrorism. SPANISH | GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE

By Devinder Kumar

NEW DELHI (IDN) – Within days of being elected as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for two years beginning January 1, Kazakhstan has affirmed its “commitment to work in partnership to address the critical social and economic development needs of the people of North and Central Asia”.

An agreement for the purpose was signed on July 11 in Bangkok between the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Government Kazakhstan. GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE | SPANISH

Viewpoint by Katsuei Hirasawa*

TOKYO (IDN) – When public opinion surveys are carried out in Japan and China, about 90 percent of the Japanese answer that they dislike China and about 80 percent of the Chinese answer that they dislike Japan. These are indescribably sad numbers, but probably have their roots in historical recognition. However, when they visit Japan, Chinese people are very surprised by the extreme kindness of the Japanese. SPANISH | GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE