(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
I would like to speak about the Japan-Cambodia Defense Ministerial Meeting and the Japan-Viet Nam Defense Ministerial Meeting. On Sunday, August 4 to Wednesday, August 7, I will visit Cambodia and Viet Nam, and will hold the Japan-Cambodia Defense Ministerial Meeting and the Japan-Viet Nam Defense Ministerial Meeting. I met online with the Cambodian Minister of National Defense, General Tea Seiha and the Viet Nam Minister of National Defence, General Giang at the ASEAN-Japan Defense Ministers’ Informal Meeting last November, but this will be the first in-person bilateral defense ministerial meeting in two years, since June 2022. The countries of Southeast Asia occupy key points along Japan’s sea lanes, making it a strategically important region for Japan. In recent years, Japan upgraded its respective bilateral relations with Cambodia and Viet Nam to “Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships.” We also concurred that we will further strengthen security cooperation at a summit meeting with both countries in Japan last December. I intend to take the opportunity of this visit to further develop cooperative relations with both Cambodia and Viet Nam, which are of great significance in terms of security.
I will now report on the recruiting program managers (PMs) for breakthrough research. The Defense Innovation and Technology Research Institute (provisional name) is scheduled to be established this October and will conduct “breakthrough” research that involves taking risks and undertaking bold challenges to achieve ambitious goals. This March, I announced that we will begin recruiting PMs who will plan and manage the progress of the research. We received far more applications than anticipated, and after selecting from the large number of applicants, we decided to appoint more than a dozen members to proceed with the research as PMs. Specifically, persons with highly outstanding achievements in various fields, such as the directors of university research institutes, former presidents of academic associations in the U.S., entrepreneurs, and executive officers of venture companies, will serve as the PMs of the research. In addition to them, we plan to engage experienced program managers at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to participate in the research activities. We will make the most of the wide range of knowledge and creative ideas of this diverse group of people to create new functions and technologies that can potentially bring about great changes to the Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces, as well as to society, in the future.