September 21, 2019(Saturday)
On the 21st of September, 2019, a TUFS Global Community Meeting was held in Moscow, at the Mitsui Club. This was the third such meeting (Link).
Participants associated with TUFS included Vice President Jun Matsukuma and Professor Shigeru Arai, as well members of the Moscow branch of the alumni association, and TUFS students studying at partner universities in Moscow. Russian students and graduates who have experience studying at TUFS, as well as the local coordinator, also participated.
In her opening remarks, Vice President Matsukuma thanked the coordinators of the meeting, and offered remarks on the topic of fostering graduates with talent applicable to the field of global business.
Hiroshi Meguro, concurrently President of Mitsui & Co. Moscow LLC. and Chief Regional Representative of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. offered a toast in greeting. Mr. Meguro spoke on the difficulties facing Japanese companies entering the Russian market, in part due to the dearth of Russian-speaking Japanese businesspeople and Japanese-speaking Russian businesspeople, and gave encouragement to the Russia and Japanese students present.
Professor Arai reiterated his hopes that TUFS alumni currently living and working in Russia would assist in providing current students with the opportunities to do internships.
The meeting concluded with closing comments from Head of the Moscow branch of the alumni association Uchikura Masakazu, who, likening Russo-Japanese relations to a romantic relationship in which Russians’ fondness for Japan goes unrequited, emphasized how important it was to engage in activities that introduce Russia to the Japanese people.
