What do you think will be important for the next 25 years for Japan and the Pacific Ocean? During the Cold War era in the 1980s, Japan felt threatened by the Soviet Union's expansion into the Pacific Ocean, and from the late 1980s to the 1990s, Japan deepened its relationship with the island countries by establishing PIC and holding island summits. In the 2000s, China's expansion into the Pacific became more and more active, and now we often see people discussing the need for Japan to strengthen its ties with the island regions its ties with the island regions not to be outdone by China. However, Japan has not developed its island diplomacy in order to counter China's expansion into the Pacific Ocean. Regardless of the expansion activities of third countries and regions, I think it is important for Japan to walk with the island countries as a neighbor of the sea that shares the Pacific Ocean. I believe that the next 25 years will naturally open up for us by sincerely addressing the various issues at hand, without losing sight of the basic point of developing a sustainable relationship between Japan and the island countries. QThe Japan Pacific Islands Association will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2024. What has been the relationship between JAPIA and PIC? JAPIA was established in 1974 as an organization with operations in the trusteeship of Micronesia, but with the end of trusteeship, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan changed its regional jurisdiction from North America Division I to the Oceania Division of the European and Oceanian Affairs Bureau. As a result, organizational activities expanded to include Polynesia and Melanesia. Therefore, the name of the organization was changed from "Japan Micronesia Association" at the time of its inauguration, to "Pacific Islands Research Institute" and then to "Japan Pacific Islands Association". As the only regional organization approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, cooperation and exchange relationships with the newly established PIC inevitably started. At the time of the PIC's inauguration, it started with a four-person team: a director on secondee from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a deputy director who was a JETRO alumnus, a transferee from JAPIA, and a secondee from JETRO. It was in 2009 that the position of director was changed to an open position from the private sector, as it is now. From that time on, the experience accumulated by PIC and the knowledge of the secretariat staff began to blossom, and their activities gradually became more active. PIC has become a private director system, and mutual cooperation with JAPIA has deepened further. Since the two organizations have overlapping objectives in many aspects, cooperation and exchange will create a great synergy between them. This is a very good thing.QThe significance and activities at the time of establishment change with time. In this context, how should PIC develop its activities in the future? How should PIC be reformed and developed? This is not so much a question for the successive directors and staff of PIC, but rather a matter to be decided by how the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is in charge of PIC, position PIC in their diplomacy. As the diplomatic ties between Japan and the island countries develop, I would like to see PIC upgraded to a full-fledged international organization based on a treaty, or strengthened as an organization specializing in Japan's diplomacy with island countries. Nevertheless, even if we limit ourselves to the activities under the current organizational structure, it is important to expand the trade promotion business, which is one of the main objectives. In reality, some of the island's products and goods are difficult to promote in the Japanese market in terms of quality. Additionally, there are many legal issues on the island side that need to be resolved, such as the investment environment from Japan and the various systems for export. It will be important to expand PIC's activities to strengthen communication and cooperation in these legal fields, which we have not touched on a lot of much so far. I also think that PIC is expected to be actively involved in human resource exchange as well.Q
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