Love Letter from Brussels
What will bring 2015? A milestone year in shaping a vision for the future (No.7)
12th January 2014
Happy New Year. From the bottom of my heart, I wish everyone a wonderful year.
Times flies, already four months have passed since I arrived in Belgium. Just like last year, my New Year’s resolutions this year are, first of all, to support the Japanese companies doing business in a business environment that can be difficult sometimes and the Japanese people residing in Belgium. If there is anything we can do as an Embassy, please let us know.
Secondly, as next year’s “150th Anniversary of the Establishment of Belgian-Japanese Diplomatic Relations” is approaching, we have to accelerate the preparation of the festivities. Thanks to your support, we have received a great number of submissions for our new logo. After a strict examination, we will announce the results soon. Furthermore, we would like to announce the various events planned throughout 2016 as soon as possible. At the same time, I would like to ask everyone’s support to celebrate this memorable year in a lively fashion. If you have any advice, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Well then, as it is the beginning of the year, I would like to use this opportunity to look further than Belgium and think about what awaits us this year.
The first thing that comes to mind is the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two. As I have written in my previous Love Letters from Brussels, last year was the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War One and various commemorative ceremonies were held all over Europe. However, this year, I think it is only natural that the focus will be to a certain extent on World War Two, not only in Asia, but in Europe as well. Furthermore, in terms of Japan’s relation with its neighboring countries, 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of Korea-Japan relations. In sum, this year will be the year in which the historical issues surrounding the Second World War will be discussed. For Japan, there will be several difficult aspects as well. It’s important to use this as an opportunity to look back at the past. More than anything though, I want the people in Europe to reacknowledge the right path that post-war Japan is taking. I would also like to make this an opportunity to talk about a proactive partnership for the future. In this matter as well, I would like to ask for your wisdom and support.
Secondly, 2015 is in fact an important year in which several future international frameworks need to be determined. With respect to climate change, a problem known to all, 2015 is the deadline for countries to agree on a new international framework beyond 2020 in order to substitute the Kyoto Protocol. The Meeting of the Parties, which will take place this year in France, will be very difficult, but important.
Are you all familiar with MDGs (Millennium Development Goals – hereafter referred to as “development goals”)? In 2000, every country in the world vowed to, among other, cut poverty by half; a goal they aimed to achieve by 2015. Now that the deadline is here, talks are being held in the UN to set a new and even wider range of goals beyond 2015. There is no doubt that this will get the biggest focus in this year’s United Nations General Assembly.
Furthermore, in 2015 Japan will host the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. On this occasion, Japan is planning to create the “Hyogo Framework for Action II (HFA II)”, a more elaborate version of the strategy for disaster reduction that was created after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.
What I can say in consideration to all this is that for achieving these goals, the main issues for developing countries will be the mobilization of government and private funds , how to give effective support and aid policy in its entirety.Thirdly, Japan is running for a non-permanent seat in the Security Council for the term 2016/2017 for which elections will be held this autumn. In an important year like this, it would be wonderful if Japan could be more strongly involved in the important international decision-making.
Lastly, to return to Belgium; 2015 is also the target year for agreeing on the outlines of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. The Japanese Mission to the EU has spared no effort, and as Embassy of Japan in Belgium, we also want to strive to gain Belgian support from an important member state like Belgium.
With that said, I think we can summarize 2015 as “A milestone year that will shape a vision for the future”. One year may seem like a long time but it passes quickly. I want to do my best so that around this time next year, I can look back on a good year with you. I thank you for your support in advance during this New Year.