MoU inked between Japanese institute and Sri Jayewardenepura Uni for international academic research

Wednesday, 27 April 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

MoU inked between Japanese Institute and University of Sri Jayewardenepura

A ground-breaking MoU to promote international academic research cooperation in the field of science and biotechnology was inked between Japan and Sri Lanka on Tuesday 19 April at the Boardroom of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Sri Jayewardenepura with the participation of a distinguished gathering of academics from Japan, Sri Lanka and India.

The MoU was signed between the University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJP) and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan, acting through its Biomedical Research Institute (BMRI), Japan.

AIST is one of the largest public research organisations in Japan engaged in cutting-edge R & D bridging research achievements and industry and linking them to commercialisation by companies. In October 2013, AIST had entered into an agreement with the Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India to establish a joint research laboratory named ‘DBT-AIST International Laboratory for Advanced Biomedicine’ (DAILAB) at the Biomedical Research Institute at AIST, Tsukuba, Japan.

The signing of the MoU in Sri Lanka is aimed at further expanding its network of DAILAB in South Asia, and promote trilateral cooperation between Japan, Sri Lanka and India in the areas of life sciences and biomedicine.

Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka Kenichi Suganuma graced the occasion as Chief Guest and signed as a witness to the agreement while University of Sri Jayewardenepura Vice Chancellor Prof. Sampath Amarathunga and BMRI Japan Director Dr. Yohsihiro Ohmiya were the main signatories to the instrument.

Addressing the forum, Ambassador Suganuma welcomed the trilateral collaboration that he said was timely and in keeping with the renewed initiatives extended by the Government of Japan to the national development plan of the newly-formed Government of Sri Lanka headed by President Maithripala Sirisena.

The initiative will facilitate multidisciplinary and innovative research particularly in the field of life sciences and biomedicine, linking industry and academia, incorporating leading technological innovation into industries, establish public-private international partnerships with Japan, Sri Lanka and India and enhance global marketability of Sri Lankan natural products. The trilateral collaboration established between Japan, Sri Lanka and India through this instrument will benefit Sri Lanka in accelerating national development and industrialisation.