From September 18-20, 2019, the second session of the Committee of the Asia-Pacific Regional Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education (The Tokyo Convention) was held in conjunction with the sixteenth session of the 1983 Convention Committee and the regional workshop.

From Japan, in addition to the representatives from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Dr. Hasegawa (Executive Director, National Information Center for Academic Recognition Japan), Prof. Yoshikawa, Assoc. Prof. Noda, and two administrative staff members from the National Information Center for Academic Recognition Japan, NIAD-QE attended the meetings. The meeting was hosted by the Convention Secretariat, UNESCO Bangkok Office, and attended by representatives from approximately 30 countries including the Tokyo Convention State Parties, 1983 Convention State Parties, and other Asia-Pacific countries and representatives from other regional conventions.

The Tokyo Convention came into force in February 2018, and its first committee meeting was held in Seoul in October 2018. This time, as the second meeting, ratification of Turkey and Mongolia and establishment of NICs in Japan and Republic of Korea were noted as remarkable progress since the last meeting, national implementation plans were reported from each party, benefits and challenges of qualifications recognition was discussed, and new initiatives and recommendations were collected. The meeting also included a presentation on the Global Convention, which is expected to be adopted at the UNESCO General Conference in November this year, to explore the similarities and differences with the Tokyo Convention and how the global and regional conventions may complement each other. Throughout the meeting, the awareness was raised towards getting more countries to ratify the Tokyo Convention, and the Secretariat emphasized the importance of reducing substantial differences to facilitate mobility for the second or third generations by each State Party taking strong ownership of the implementation of the Convention.

At the end of the meeting, the Asia-Pacific Network of National Information Centres (APNNIC) was establish in accordance with the Article IX.3 of the Convention. In its launch ceremony, Dr. Hasegawa and other representatives of the State Parties as well as the UNESCO Bangkok Office signed the inaugural statement.