Carolina joins annual forum with state officials, diplomats, Japanese industry leaders
November 11, 2024UNC Global Affairs
Carolina’s vice provost for global affairs and chief global officer, Barbara Stephenson interviews Robert T. Koepcke during a plenary session on security in the Indo-Pacific region and U.S.-Japan relations. Photo submitted.
The North Carolina Department of Commerce hosted the Southeast U.S./Japan (SEUS/Japan) Conference in Charlotte, Oct. 27-29. For the first time in the meeting’s 46-year history, organizers invited higher education institutions to participate, highlighting the valuable role colleges and universities play in workforce development and innovation.
Due to existing academic partnerships between Carolina and Japanese universities and strong economic ties between the state of North Carolina and Japan, UNC-Chapel Hill has prioritized greater collaboration with Japan. In 2023, the first-ever UNC delegation visit to Japan created opportunities for new research collaboration and exchange with support from the U.S. Embassy Tokyo, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and Nagoya University.
At the conference, during a session dedicated to the role of higher education in workforce development, Carolina’s Associate Provost for Global Affairs Heather Ward discussed UNC-Chapel Hill’s participation in the Japan-hub for Innovative Global Education (JIGE). JIGE is a five-year initiative to promote virtual and in-person student mobility funded by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
Stephen Sumner, director of the NC Japan Center, chaired the session, and Yuki Kihara, associate director for education abroad at Clemson University, discussed Clemson’s blended mobility program in biomedical engineering. The program combines virtual collaboration with a study abroad experience in Japan, in partnership with Japanese university and industry partners. The session also featured an innovative partnership for workforce development between Guilford Technical Community College and Honda Aircraft.
On Tuesday, Carolina’s vice provost for global affairs and chief global officer, Barbara Stephenson, led a plenary session on security in the Indo-Pacific region and U.S.-Japan relations. She interviewed Robert T. Koepcke, deputy assistant secretary for Japan, Korea and Mongolia in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
“The alliance is stronger than ever,” Koepcke said. “It is a cornerstone of peace, prosperity and security in the region.”
Koepcke highlighted several areas of increasing U.S.-Japan cooperation in defense, economic security, trade and commerce, emerging technologies and education.
During another session, Japan’s ambassador to the U.S., Shigeo Yamada, attributed the strength of the alliance to values shared by both countries — free markets, the rule of law, an open and rules-based international order — and to deep personal connections and a sense of trust.
“Japan stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the United States as a trusted partner and closest friend,” Yamada said.
Japan is North Carolina’s top inward investor. With more than 225 Japanese firms operating in the state, Japanese enterprises employ more than 31,000 North Carolinians. SEUS/Japan comprises seven states in the American southeast, including North Carolina. The conference site alternates each year between one of the Southeastern member states and Japan. This was the first time in 13 years that North Carolina has hosted the event.
Sean Suggs, president of Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina, and Masaaki Tsuya, immediate past chairman of Bridgestone Corporation, co-chaired this year’s conference. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper led the state’s delegation. When Cooper hosted Fumio Kishida in April 2024, Kishida was prime minister of Japan, marking the first time a sitting head of state visited the Governor’s Mansion.
In addition to Stephenson and Ward, Mark McNeilly, professor of the practice in UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, attended the conference and presented an overview of the evolving capabilities and deficiencies of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and the potential for AI to affect workforce productivity. McNeilly chairs the UNC Generative AI Committee.
Other attendees from UNC-Chapel Hill included Don Hobart, associate vice chancellor for research, Yosuke Kanai, professor of chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Joyce Tan, director of cross-sector partnerships in the UNC School of Data Science and Society.
The 2025 SEUS/Japan Conference will again be led by the North Carolina delegation and will take place in Tokyo. Organizers hope to expand the participation of higher education institutions from both the U.S. and Japan.