Dr. Yoichi Funabashi, Chairman of the AP Initiative, participated in the G1 Global Conference on the 14th October and more recently, the GZERO Summit on 17th October. Both were summits in which experts, academics and public intellectuals came together to discuss pressing global and regional challenges.

At the G1 Global Conference, held at GLOBIS University, the theme was “Connecting a Fractured World”. The experts, including Dr. Funabashi, agreed that Japan had to take on the role of a stabilizer and maintain its commitment to multilateralism in the face of an increasingly fractious world in which protectionism, geopolitical shifts in the Asia Pacific and a newly emerging threat in the field of artificial intelligence all pose a challenge to the status quo and international order, and further, that Japan has the potential to contribute whether it be through tourism, Abenomics, or supporting budding entrepreneurs.
Dr. Funabashi also participated in the Breakout Session on “Tech Cold War: Opportunities and Challenges in the Fourth Industrial Revolution” in addition to giving his thoughts about the role that Japan can play in the world today.

Meanwhile, at the GZERO summit organized by the Eurasia Group, Dr. Funabashi was one of the participants, as was Taro Kono, the Foreign Minister of Japan.
Dr. Funabashi appeared as a panelist in the session “GZERO World Order and Geo-economics: New Modus Operandi – Implications for Global Business” Dr. Funabashi was quoted in the Japan Times reporting on the event as saying “The ultimate danger we are now confronted with is China’s progress to take advantage of the fourth industrial revolution including artificial intelligence” and that “Mike Pence’s speech could transpire to be the Iron Curtain speech of the 21st Century”.

The article of Japan Times can be seen here.