DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE F  ie  N o

'^ T H E  THIRD MEETING OF THE AUSTRALIA/JAPAN JOINT COMMITTEE ON  CO-OPERATION IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Under the Agreement between the Governments o f A u stra lia  and Japan fo r  co-operation in  the fie ld s  o f Science and Technology, the th ir d  meeting  o f the Australia/Japan J o in t Committee on Co-operation in  Science and  Technology was held in  Canberra on 25-26 November.

The Japanese delegation was headed by His Excellency  Mr T o s h ijiro  Nakajima, the Japanese Ambassador to A u s tra lia . The  delegation comprised Mr Yoshifumi Matsuda; Director-G eneral fo r  S c ie n tific  and Technological A ffa irs , M in is try  of Foreign A ffa r is , and  Mr Nobuhisa Akabane, Science C o u n cillo r, Science and Technology Agency,  as w e ll as other representatives of the M in is try  of Foreign A ffa irs , the  Science and Technology Agency, and the M in is trie s  of Education;  A g ric u ltu re , Forestry and F ish eries; In te rn a tio n a l Trade and Ind ustry;

and Transport.

The A u stra lia n  delegation was led by Mr N e v ille  Hurst, Head o f the  Department o f Science's S c ie n tific  Development D iv is io n , and included  representatives from a wide range o f A ustra lian Government agencies and  the s c ie n tific  academies. .

The meeting reviewed progress on a range o f science and technology topics  which had previously been agreed fo r co-operative a c tiv itie s . These  a c tiv itie s  were in  many fie ld s  o f science, includ ing geology, physical  sciences, l i f e  sciences, and atmospheric and marine science. The meeting

agreed th a t co-operative p ro je cts in  these areas had been very successful  and most should continue.

Several new projects were also agreed. One o f these was between a  research team a t the A ustra lian Atomic Energy Commission (to  become the  A ustra lian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights)  and the M in istry of Education (Monbusho) and Kobe U n iv e rs ity , fo r thermal  neutron capture therapy fo r malignant melanoma. This p ro je c t presents an  e xce lle n t opportunity fo r co-operative research in  an area which is  of  p a rtic u la r in te re s t and relevance to A u s tra lia , and in  which Japan has  special c a p a b ility .

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Points of contact in  a number of A ustra lian and Japanese agencies were  designated fo r inform ation exchange and fu rth e r co n sultatio n, recognising  p o te n tia l fo r fu tu re  co-operative research in  other areas of science and  technology.

Concurrent w ith the meeting, the b ila te r a l Science and Technology  Agreement (o r ig in a lly  signed in  November 1980 fo r an i n i t i a l  fiv e -y e a r  period) was o f f ic ia lly  renewed by the M in iste r fo r Foreign A ffa irs , the  -Hon B i l l  Hayden NP and His Excellency Mr Nakajima at a ceremony at

Parliament House.

I t  was agreed th a t the J o in t Committee would meet next in  Tokyo in  1987.  The exact date is  to be fix e d  through diplom atic channels.

Further inform ation: Peter Bramwell P ublic Relations and Inform ation  Ph. 64 4382 W

27 November, 1985

