The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur (JFKL) and the Malaysian Association of Japanese Studies (MAJAS) will organize a series of public lectures on Japanese studies in March 2011. The aim of this program is to create further understanding towards Japanese politics, economics and social affairs, and it is a part of JFKL?s efforts to develop Japanese studies in Malaysia. This year, in collaboration with University of Malaya (UM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), we are inviting Professor WATANABE Yorizumi, Professor of International Political Economy, Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Japan, as the guest speaker. The theme of the public lecture series this year will be ?The Possibility of FTA in North East Asia and Implications for ASEAN?. Admission is free and everybody is welcome!

KUALA LUMPUR
Date:    14 March 2011 (Monday)
Time:    10.00am ? 12.00noon
Venue:  Dewan Kuliah A, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur

PENANG
Date:    15 March 2011 (Tuesday)
Time:    10.00am ? 12.00noon
Venue:  Dewan Persidangan Universiti, School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang

SABAH
Date:    18 March 2011 (Friday)
Time:    8.30am ? 10.30am
Venue:  Gallery, Chancellor Building, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Sabah

About the Guest Speaker

Professor WATANABE Yorizumi is a Professor of International Political Economy in the Faculty of Policy Management of Keio University, Japan. He was born on 21 November 1953 in Osaka, Japan. Professor Watanabe received his B.A. from Sophia University, Japan in 1976, Certificate of Advanced European Studies from College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium in 1978, M.A. in International Relations in 1981 and Candidate for Ph. D in 1982, both from Sophia University, Japan.

Professor Watanabe specializes in trade policy studies based on the WTO trade laws and rules. With his background in the European Studies coupled with his trade policy experiences during the Uruguay Round Negotiation, Professor Watanabe has been working on the economic integration in East Asia. Professor Watanabe has also quite extensive work on WTO-related issues such as trade and environment, as well as trade and competition. When he was appointed as Deputy Director-General for Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was responsible for Russia?s accession to the WTO. He was also chief negotiator for the Japan-Mexico Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations. He is currently a member of the task force on the Japan-India EPA and the Japan-EU Economic Integration Agreement, and he is also a member of the International Committee, Tokyo Chamber of Commerce in Tokyo, Japan.

He has published and edited a number of books on international economics issues and he is also an author and co-author of numerous articles in professional journals. His publications include:

? Perspectives of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in East Asia and the WTO System, Journal of International Economic Laws, October 2001

? WTO Handbook: Issues and Perspectives of the Doha Development Agenda, JETRO PRESS, October 2003

? The GATT/WTO System and Japan, Hokujyu Publications, October 2007