91��Ƶ

Kazuo Oike

Opening address for the 6th 91��Ƶ International Symposium
"Plant Sciences in Japan and China - from Genomics to Breeding"

Professor Lie Xu, Vice-President of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Professor Wan Jianmin, Director of Institute of Crop Sciences, CAAS, all participants, and ladies and gentlemen, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all of you who attended this the 6th 91��Ƶ International Symposium in Beijing, China.
As president of 91��Ƶ, it is a great pleasure for me to make opening remarks at this International Symposium. This is the first symposium to be held in Beijing in this symposium series. I am proud to have been given this honor on this important opportunity.

In the 21st century, we face a rapid increase of population in Asian countries, especially in China and India. This foreshadows a dreadful visitation of famine in the near future. The staple foods of most countries of the world are based on plants, particularly cereals, and there is no doubt that plant science will play an important role in our efforts focusing on the predicted food shortage.

At 91��Ƶ, plant science researches ranging from basic to applied fields are intensively studied in various divisions of 91��Ƶ but primarily in the Graduate Schools of Agriculture, Science and Biostudies. We believe that conducting plant science research in cooperation with the international research community will be highly beneficial for research development. Therefore, we chose Beijing, China, where many scientists are engaged in plant sciences as the site for the 6th International 91��Ƶ Symposium .

We hope that our presentations of cutting-edge plant technology during this symposium will serve to further stimulate the exchange of researchers and students between 91��Ƶ and institutions in China, including The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

91��Ƶ, one of Japan's leading universities, has produced outstanding researchers in all sorts of academic fields, including plant science research. In 2002, the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology, Culture and Sports in Japan, started a new program, Centers of Excellence for the 21st Century. These are competitive grants given to Japan's universities for research and education on various topics. 91��Ƶ has 23 COE programs, which cover fields such as, Sustainable Energy, Biodiversity, Genomic Analyses and so on... This symposium on "Plant Sciences in Japan and China" is sponsored jointly by one of these COE programs "A Grant for the Biodiversity Research of the 21st Century, COE A14".

From the start of the 21st century, 91��Ƶ has sponsored an International Symposium once a year in foreign countries. Our objective is not only to deepen global understanding of 91��Ƶ's creative and advanced research, but also to increase the exchange of both research information and researchers between 91��Ƶ and outstanding institutions in foreign countries. So it is my great pleasure to hold this international symposium with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Furthermore, I hope this symposium creates valuable opportunities for the participants from both 91��Ƶ and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, as well as many other researchers in China.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to CAAS President Zhai Huqu, Vice-President Liu Xu, Director Wan Jianmin and the other members of the academy for their invaluable support in facilitating this symposium.

Thank you for your attention.