Creating added value for Switzerland and Japan

Japan was added to the Swissnex network at the end of September, bringing the number of its key locations to six. Why Japan, and why Osaka in the Kansai region?

Japan is the world’s second largest like-minded economic superpower and has been a decades-long valuable partner to Switzerland in terms of economic and research cooperation. Both countries are competitive and innovative and they share similar values: democracy, trust, a high standard of quality, risk prevention, solid research and long-term relationships. The new Swissnex location in Osaka will consolidate this cooperation.

Kansai, with its 21 million inhabitants, is home to the world’s fastest supercomputer – Fugaku – as well as numerous top universities, the latter of which have already signed more than 20 cooperation agreements with Swiss universities. In addition, various innovation-oriented companies such as Panasonic and Nintendo have their headquarters in the Kansai region.

Where do you see the greatest potential for Swiss-Japanese cooperation in education, research and innovation?

Japan is one of Switzerland’s eight priority countries in its foreign policy strategy and an excellent partner for bilateral research cooperation. In 2007, Switzerland and Japan signed a cooperation agreement in science and technology, which was only recently expanded to include a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The aim of the MoU is to ensure that Switzerland and Japan cooperate more on a ‘systemic’ level in strategic areas such as quantum technology, artificial intelligence and robotics. Japan’s extensive understanding of technology and its quality standards benefit start-ups too. For example, as Swissnex, we advised 53 Swiss start-ups in 2022 in Japan, while the places for the 2023 Internationalisation Camp, which we are holding in conjunction with Innosuisse, were snapped up in no time.

What unique characteristics of Japanese culture do Swiss partners need to know?

Although Japan and Switzerland share similar values, there are key differences in their culture, politics and language. Specific aspects that are interesting are forward-looking research funding with five-year plans, a dynamic culture of innovation combining tradition and modern technology and, of course, the language barrier – but this isn’t such a problem as Japanese scientists have a good command of English.

What are Swissnex’s thematic priorities in Japan?

Japan is at the forefront of addressing some of the societal challenges that go beyond national borders; especially the topics of sustainability and ageing are a focus, but so too is fostering start-ups. Switzerland can benefit from the solutions Japan finds and find its own answers to these questions.

The six key Swissnex locations focus their activities based on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and assign them to their own thematic priorities. Our goals in Japan are SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).