The Diplomat
The twenty-third edition of the Spain-Japan Forum will be held in Salamanca between November 28 and 30, according to information provided by the Spain-Japan Council Foundation on July 21.
This is the second time that the Castilian-Leonese city will host the main public diplomacy event between Spain and Japan after more than two decades, since Salamanca also hosted the fifth edition of the Forum in 2001.
The Forum is the main platform for dialogue between representatives of civil society and the Administration of Spain and Japan. It is jointly organized by the Spain-Japan Council Foundation and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of both countries. In addition, this year’s edition will have the outstanding participation of the University of Salamanca, which this year celebrates its Year of Japan. The City Council of the city and the Junta de Castilla y León will also support the event.
In addition, the Salamanca Forum will be the first without the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Josep Piqué, who co-chaired this instrument of dialogue between 2010 and 2022. In October 2022, just a few months before his death, he handed over the Spanish co-presidency to Ángeles Delgado, CEO of Fujitsu in Spain and president of the Spain Japan Council Foundation.
The central day of the Forum, which will include discussions on strategic issues of the bilateral relationship, will take place at the headquarters of the International Spanish Language Center, previously hosted by the Bank of Spain. The agenda of this day is not yet closed, but issues such as the position of Spain and Japan in the current global geopolitical environment, cooperation in the defense sector, collaboration between companies from both countries or the importance of academic exchanges in bilateral relations will be discussed.
“It is a pleasure and an honor to hold the Forum again in Salamanca, a city with enormous historical ties with Japan,” said the secretary general of the Spain Japan Council Foundation, Ramón María Moreno. “A platform for dialogue such as the Forum is more important than ever, in an uncertain global environment, in which it is necessary to strengthen relations between friendly countries, as is the case of Spain and Japan,” he added.
