On 28 February, a seminar on ��Growth of Business-Higher Education Linkages in Japan and the UK,�� co-hosted by the University of Brighton and Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, was held at the Embassy of Japan in London. The seminar was one initiative being undertaken to promote cooperation in the fields of science, technology and innovation as agreed upon in the joint statement issued following the January summit meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo and Prime Minister Blair.

Aimed at promoting international university-industry cooperation between Japan and the UK, the seminar first examined the current state of interaction between higher educational institutions and businesses in the two countries. It then introduced examples of industry collaboration and new technology development by the two universities to the seminar participants, who came from corporations, government agencies and private foundations. Altogether, some 60 people attended the seminar, representing such organizations as the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Office of Science and Innovation, The Royal Society, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and the Japan External Trade Organization.

A reception was held after the seminar, at which the participants engaged in convivial conversation and expanded their networks of contacts, which are indispensable for university-industry cooperation.

Exchange between Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and the University of Brighton began with their participation in study visits in January 2005, which were held as part of a programme based on an intergovernmental agreement to promote cooperation between institutions of higher education in the two countries. In November 2006, the universities signed an agreement to carry out international university-industry cooperation, as they had coinciding strategies to develop international linkages in their working frameworks with local business communities.

One unique characteristic of this programme is the support the universities are to provide within their respective countries for advancing the activities of the counterpart university and of its affiliated small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), while evolving related research concepts. This inter-university partnership supports the growth of each side��s SMEs in wide overseas markets that span continents and provides paths for the introduction of new technologies into those markets. Both in this respect and as regards its potential for expanding the interface between the two sectors in developing new industries, this inter-university programme is unprecedented. (Programme)