Budapest, 9 March 2022 - Nearly 150 Hungarian and foreign experts participated at a science diplomacy event focusing on research and innovation cooperation between the V4 countries and Japan. The international seminar was organised in a hybrid format as part of the Hungarian V4 Presidency's programme.
In his opening speech, Márton Schőberl, Deputy State Secretary for Culture and Science Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade underlined that the relations in the field of scientific cooperation between the countries of the Central European region and Japan have been excellent for decades. Japanese companies represent significant added value for the Hungarian economy.
At the international seminar, cooperation projects of the five countries were presented, ranging from basic research to technological innovation. In the first session of the programme, speakers highlighted the common elements of the V4 countries' and Japan's automotive strategies, with a special focus on cooperation in the fields of self-driving technology and artificial intelligence. In the second part of the seminar, jointly funded and ongoing materials science programmes were introduced, in the one involving Nobel Prize-winning Japanese Professor Amano.
Dr. István Szabó, Deputy President of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office recalled that the V4-Japan joint research and development programme was announced for the second time in 2021. The participation of Hungarian researchers was supported by the Office with an increased budget of EUR 637 000.
The event was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in cooperation with the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, the Embassy of Japan in Budapest and the R&D funding agencies of the V4 partner countries.