Welcome Speech
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Welcome Address by Mr. Toshiki Aoyama
Vice Minister for Engineering Affairs,
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan
To the
7th Meeting of the
Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific
Tsukuba, Japan
24-27 April, 2001
Good morning. Thank you for your kind introduction. My name is Aoyama.
Vice-Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
I am
I find it a great honor
to be given an opportunity to say a few words on the occasion of the auspicious
opening of the 7th Meeting of the Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for
Asia and the Pacific.
First of all I would like to extend my sincere welcome to Japan to all of you, Professor
Yang Kai, President of Permanent Committee on GIS infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific,
Mr. Peter Holland, Vice President, representatives of member nations, distinguished guests,
ladies and gentlemen.
From what I've heard from Mr. Yoshiaki Yano, Director General of
Geographical Survey Institute, I understand that PCGIAP, being established in 1995, today
celebrates the opening of the seventh meeting, and the very first one in Japan.
Flowers
are in full bloom to welcome you, although our cherry blossoms were a little too shy to
meet you. I am very pleased to be able to show you our beautiful land at its best in lush
greens.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is responsible for the management of
this land of ours. As a young and fresh Ministry just like the shooting leaves in early
spring, being born in January from an integration of four organizations, Ministry of
Construction, Ministry of Transport, National Land Agency, and Hokkaido Development Agency,
it has an ambitious vision of the national land where people enjoy greater mobility and
land greater dynamism.
With this in mind we have been directing our efforts to the
infrastructure development, both hard and soft, to ensure a safe and quality life of the
people.
With a rapid development of information technology, we are moving ever faster towards an
information-centered society, where information infrastructure is increasingly important.
In the light of this social transition the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
has come up with a policy of "e-Japan", focusing its strategic emphasis on the soft
infrastructure development.
As a central organ for GIS development and promotion,
Geographical
Survey Institute is vigorously pursuing the efforts for its implementation. E-Japan is
an idea of GIS environment where the digitized national land information including data of
land maps and charts are posted on the internet for easy access and dissemination for diverse
purposes from national land management to marketing.
I believe various efforts and projects are equally underway in the area of GIS in each of the
member nations.
PCGIAP's objective is to provide a venue where countries in the same region
meet and discuss on the common ground for information exchange and better understanding of
GIS,
thus to contribute collaboratively to the regional "soft" infrastructure development and ultimately
to the nation building worthy of 21st century. Amid the sweeping tide of information technology
and globalization throughout the international communities, PCGIAP is sure to gain further
momentum
in Asia and the Pacific region.
Thanks to the dedicated efforts of all the members under the strong leadership of Presidents and
Vice-presidents, it is now well recognized as a major GIS forum in the region.
Japan has been
participating in PCGIAP activities mainly through Geographical Survey Institute and assumed a
role
of Secretariat in April 2000.
We are determined to continue our best efforts for further
development
of the Committee.
It is my sincere desire that this first meeting of the century be a most fruitful one with active
participation of the members, marking an important step forward into another prosperous stage
of
PCGIAP.
Finally I wish you a success in the meeting as well as in your personal career and ask
you to take as much time as possible to enjoy beautiful Japan in springtime.
Thank you for your attention.