Japan, Scotland’s Gateway to Pacific Trade

About Speaker

Sir David was previously British Ambassador to Japan from 2008 to 2012, after a career in the British Diplomatic Service focused on East Asian affairs. He was made Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 2012 and received the honour of Grand Cordon, Order of the Rising Sun (Japan) in 2017.

Sir David maintains a keen interest in Japan and East Asia, including as Chair of the Japan Society (2013 to 2019), Member of the Management Board, Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, University of East Anglia (2013 to present) and as Director of the UK/Japan 21st Century Group, a non-governmental forum for promoting greater understanding between the two countries. He is also a Visiting Professor, School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield (2019 to present).

Sir David’s other roles include Director, Migration Matters Trust (since 2013); Senior Advisor, Montrose Associates (2014 to present), a strategic intelligence company advising international businesses; Non-Executive Director, Aberdeen Japan Investment Trust (2015 to present); and a Member of the London Symphony Orchestra Advisory Council (2013 to present).

About Speaker

Professor Gow was Scotland’s first professor of Japanese and the founding director of the Scottish Centre for Japanese Studies at Stirling University in the 1980s. He is an Edinburgh graduate and now an honorary Professor at his alma mater where he still lectures. He is Chairman of the Japan Society of Scotland. He has published extensively on Japanese defence and Japanese business & management. He is a member of ASI’s International Advisory Council. Last year he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (ORS) by the Emperor of Japan for his contribution to British Japanese studies and Japan-Scotland relations

About Speaker

Govinda Finn, an Economics Lecturer at Kobe University and sits on our International Advisory Council. He is a former Japan and Developed Asia Economist at Abrdn and is also involved in the Green Finance Initiative through his work on the board of the CityUK’s Japan Market Advisory Group. Govinda graduated with a MA in Japanese Studies, majoring in Asia Pacific Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University London. He completed a BA in Economics and History from Leeds University, which included a year at Darla Moore Business School, University of South Carolina. He holds an Investment Management Certificate.

About Speaker

Dr Minako Morita-Jaeger – a Senior Research Fellow in the International Trade of the University of Sussex Business School and a Policy Research Fellow of the UK Trade Policy Observatory (UKTPO). She is an international trade policy expert who has been working on international trade policy globally. She studied international political economy, economics and international economic law and applies the inter-disciplinary approach for her research in order to elaborate on multi-dimensional factors that shape today’s world trade. Prior to her research work at the University of Sussex and the LSE, she was engaged intensively in trade policy practice as an Economic Affairs Officer at UNCTAD in Geneva, as a WTO services trade negotiator with the Japanese delegation in Geneva, and a Principal Trade Policy Analyst at the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) in Tokyo.