【Report of Co-organized event】Fifth India Japan Intellectual Conclave ‘Kizuna’

We co-organized the Fifth India-Japan Intellectual Conclave 'Kizuna' (Kizuna seminar) which was held in Guwahati, Assam State in Northeast India on February 6 and 7, 2025, and was attended by Ms. Miki Yamada, former member of the House of Representatives of Japan (former State Minister of Environment of Japan) and Mr. Itsu Adachi, Executive Director of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation along with other staff.
 
Kizuna seminar is organised by Asian Confluence, a private Indian foundation based in Shillong, Meghalaya state in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan in India and the Ministry of External Affairs of India. The Kizuna seminar provides an opportunity to promote integrated socio-economic development in Northeast India and the Bengal region through international collaboration among industry, government and academia. Our foundation has participated as a co-organizer since the fourth seminar last year.
 
The Fifth Kizuna seminar, entitled “Co-Creating Ecosystems for Change: Technology, Education, Logistics,” was attended by approximately more than 140 participants from India, Bangladesh and Japan, including politicians, government officials, government agencies and private sectors. It was opened by His Excellency Mr. Keiichi Ono, Ambassador of Japan to India. Keynote speeches were delivered by Mr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Assam and Mr. Konrad Sangma, Chief Minister of Meghalaya.
 
As part of the program, organised by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the participants visited a plantation where local farmers have contracted with the private company that produces bioethanol to grow bamboo for biomass. The Northeast India is famous for bamboo cultivation and produce bioethanol. They also visited a proposed semiconductor back-end process site to be built by Tata Group. The local government plans to develop this area as a smart city in the future.

The first day of Kizuna seminar included a panel session on industrial value chain co-creation and improving the connectivity of logistics systems.
 
On the second day, there were sessions on technical trainees and care economy human resources; a session from industry on the promotion of semiconductor and other high-tech industries in Northeast India and the potential for Japanese companies to set up operations; and a session from academia on collaboration between Indian engineering talent (Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad and Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, etc.) and Japanese industry. 

In order to promote political engagement to achieve the aim of the seminar, we organised and facilitated a political session for the exchange of politicians from Japan and Northeast India.
 
From Japan, Ms. Miki Yamada, former member of the House of Representatives of Japan, introduced the past top-diplomatic exchange between the Japanese and Indian governments, environmental issues, and the importance of green transformation to balance environmental protection and industry development. In addition, she introduced collaborative activities between Gifu University and Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati as good examples of industry-university cooperation promotion and research-education exchange.

At that time, a doctoral student at Gifu University, who is studying at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati under the Joint Degree Program, introduced an overview of his research activity. Furthermore, two politicians from Northeast India who participated in our invitation program to Japan in 2023 highlighted our ‘Kizuna’ between Japan and the Northeast of India.

In collaboration with The Northeast India Audiovisual Archive at St Anthony's College in Shillong, Meghalaya state, photographs from their collections were displayed at the venue to show participants the magnificent scenic beauty and cultural diversity of the eight-state region of Northeast India.

Our activities focus on promoting peace and stability in the Northeast Indian societies and strengthening ties between Japan and Northeast India. As a co-organizer of the Kizuna seminar, we will continue its work to promote people to people exchanges and mutual understanding between Japan and Northeast India.