Masanori Kondo, deputy secretary general of the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity, has been elected head of the Bangkok-based international organization dedicated to developing information and communications technology in the fast-growing region.
Kondo, a former official at Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, will become secretary general of the 38-member body on Feb. 9 for a three-year term, replacing Areewan Haorangsi of Thailand.
Japan's Foreign Ministry said Kondo's election at an APT general assembly on Dec. 4 apparently reflects appreciation by Asia-Pacific economies of his service as deputy secretary general.
"Our country will continue to proactively contribute to enhancing its presence in the information and communications field in the Asia-Pacific region through activities at the APT," the ministry said.
At the then-Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, which he joined in 1990, Kondo had mainly handled international affairs at the ministry's Global Strategy Bureau. He joined the APT as deputy secretary general in 2015.
Separately, Tetsuo Ushikusa, deputy assistant minister for international affairs at the minister's secretariat of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, in November was elected chairman of the Committee of Agriculture at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Ushikusa will be the first Japanese national and first person from Asia to take up the post at the Paris-based OECD. His one-year term will start Jan. 1.
Japan "will continue to take leadership at the Agriculture Committee toward coordination of agricultural policies around the world," the farm ministry said.
Since this year, the committee has been conducting an analysis of the impact of increased novel coronavirus infections on the global food supply chain. The results are referred to at meetings of the Group of Seven industrialized nations and the Group of 20 major economies.
