The Diplomat
Collaboration in security and defence was the central theme of the 23rd Spain-Japan Forum, held this week in Salamanca. More than 100 experts from both countries met on the central day of the Forum, which took place at the Centro Internacional del Español, the former headquarters of the Bank of Spain in the city of Salamanca.
The Forum, organised by the Spain-Japan Council Foundation, had the support of both Ministries of Foreign Affairs and, in its twenty-third edition, with the collaboration of the University of Salamanca, the City Council, the Junta de Castilla y León, the Provincial Council and the Chamber of Commerce of the city. The theme of this year’s edition is “Geopolitics, security and collaboration: strengthening Spain-Japan ties”.
The Spanish government’s Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Luis Manuel Cuesta, headed the Spanish delegation. Cuesta highlighted several milestones in security and defence such as “the attendance of a high-level delegation from the Ministry of Defence at the Tokyo Security and Defence Fair in March, the holding of ‘military to military’ consultations in April and the approval of a plan of cooperation activities for 2024 that includes the visit to Japan of Spanish military aircraft together with units from Germany and France”.
The Japanese delegation was led by the Japanese Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Yoichi Fukazawa, who defined Spain as a “strategic partner that shares fundamental values of freedom, democracy, fundamental rights and the rule of law”.
For her part, the Spanish co-chair of the Forum, Ángeles Delgado, stressed the need to think in holistic terms in order to tackle the major international challenges: “We cannot talk about security without talking about the economy, nor can we talk about innovation without discussing its social and ethical consequences, nor can we analyse what is happening in Europe while ignoring what is happening in the Indo-Pacific area”.
In addition to defence cooperation, the other main themes of the Forum were the current geopolitical turbulence, collaboration in the university field and the tangent between technological innovation and social welfare, with a focus on artificial intelligence. The panellists included experts from both countries such as Miguel Otero, senior researcher at the Elcano Royal Institute; Tomohisa Takei, former Chief of Staff of the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Forces; Antoni Esteve, president of the Esteve Teijin Healthcare joint venture; and Tamir Blum, CEO of the agricultural digitalisation start-up KitsuiTech.
Before the debates, the Spain Japan Council Foundation paid a heartfelt tribute to former Foreign Minister Josep Piqué, who co-chaired the Forum between 2010 and 2022. Piqué was committed to Spain-Japan relations until his death in April this year, and his time at the helm of Spanish diplomacy is generally regarded as a turning point in which Spain’s outlook towards Asia was strengthened.
The Spain-Japan Forum began on Tuesday 28th, with a reception by the Mayor of Salamanca, Carlos García Carbayo, at the Casa Consistorial, followed by a welcome dinner at the Casino de Salamanca. On the last day of the Forum, Thursday, the Japanese delegation visited the facilities of the Beher ham company in Guijuelo.
