Executive Roundtable with Akira Muto
On February 5th, Asia Society Northern California hosted an Executive Roundtable with Akira Muto in Palo Alto.
Akira Muto is a global affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) at Stanford University for 2018-19. Muto has over 25 years of experience in the Foreign Ministry of Japan with background in Russia and policy planning. He served as director of the Russian division, deputy director general (Ambassador) in charge of former Soviet Union states, as well as director of policy coordination division. Additionally, he served as director of free trade agreement and economic partnership division and the director of the fourth division of Intelligence Service. As a diplomat, his previous assignments included Washington D.C., Moscow and Boston (Consul General). In recent years, he served as Cabinet Councillor at National Security Secretariat and was engaged in various international security affairs. His research interest covers strategic relations among US-Japan Alliance, Russia and China in the Asia-Pacific region.
He focused on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe' the concept of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP), and implications related to Russia and China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Industry leaders and Hoover Institution representatives were present.
Asia Society Northern California hosts private Executive Roundtable Briefings with industry leaders every month in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Program topics are around headline news, business analysis, and critical issues coming out of Asia. These monthly briefings, launched in September 2017, have grown in popularity to generate wait-lists quickly. Most events are off-the-record to encourage open debate and discussion.