Turkmenistan and Japan: Dialogue about Education and Science
Meeting was held between the rector of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Jumamyrad Gurbangeldiyev and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Turkmenistan, Mr. Hiroyuki Yamamoto in the format of an online videoconference.
As part of the online dialogue, the parties discussed the tasks related to the priorities of the main areas of partnership in the field of bilateral political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian relations, the possibilities of their development, as well as the nuances of implementing measures focused on expanding the scale of scientific ties. As noted during the meeting, the traditional sphere of interstate cooperation is long-term interaction in the field of education and science. In this context, the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan also actively contributed to their development. Over the years, the institute has hosted student delegations from Japan. In addition, the students of the institute took part in the Japanese international youth exchange program -MIRAI.
It was noted, that international cooperation of higher educational institutions of the two countries is actively developing, and specialists from Japan read lecture courses to students of Turkmen universities.
Examples of this are the meetings organized at the IIR of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan with representatives of the academic and political spheres of Japan, the National Research Institute of Defense of the Ministry of Defense of Japan, employees of the Japanese diplomatic mission in Turkmenistan. In turn, a delegation from our institute has visited the Land of the Rising Sun several times in order to study advanced scientific experience in the field of training highly qualified personalities, as well as the state structure and work of the Japanese parliament.
For a deep study of the cultural and spiritual characteristics of the "Land of the Rising Sun", and mastering important language skills at the Institute of International Relations, Japanese is taught as a second foreign language. This confirms the fact that relations between two countries are becoming closer and more significant.
The Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan is a higher educational institution, that prepares highly qualified specialists for the diplomatic field. In this regard, students have established a certain work at the institute, in order to deeply study the positive experience of foreign policy of foreign states, primarily the foreign policy of Japan. The history and formation of Japan's foreign policy and diplomatic service has been studied within the framework of the study programs "History of Asia and Africa", "Foreign Policy of Asian and African Countries", "Diplomatic Service of Foreign States", "Regional Studies".
The Institute pays great attention to the study on a scientific basis of important directions of Japanese foreign policy. The similarity of positions on topical issues of the global agenda, which is reflected in the successful cooperation of Turkmenistan with Japan within the framework of authoritative international organizations, especially with UN, an important part of this process.
Serdar Rakhimov,
2-nd year student of the Faculty of International Relations of
the Institute of International Relations of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan