Ballard CEO Delivers Keynote Speech at Open Innovation Forum Osaka Event
author Added by FuelCellsWorks, September 22, 2017
During a business trip to Japan to meet with Japanese partners and customers, Mr. Randy MacEwen, Ballard President and CEO attended the “Open Innovation Forum Osaka in Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies”, where he delivered the keynote speech on September 19th.
VANCOUVER, CANADA and OSAKA, JAPAN – During a business trip to Japan to meet with Japanese partners and customers, Mr. Randy MacEwen, Ballard President and CEO attended the “Open Innovation Forum Osaka in Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies”, where he delivered the keynote speech on September 19th.
The Forum was an industry event sponsored by the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry Kansai Bureau (METI-KANSI), the Osaka Prefecture Government, the Industrial Scholarship Center (ISC Fund), and the Canadian Trade Commission.
Mr. MacEwen joined Mr. Tsuyoshi Morishita, Director – Next Generation Industry Division of METI and Mr. Yasumi Kitao, Executive Director of Growth Industry Promotion Office Department of Commerce, Industry and Labor in the Osaka Prefectural Government on stage to kick-off the event.
The Government of Canada’s support for the Forum event and for Ballard’s activities in the Japanese market was reflected by the attendance of senior representatives from the Canadian Trade Commissioner’s Service, with Mr. Chenier La Salle, Consul and Senior Trade Commissioner in Nagoya and Ms. Teiko Oba, Trade Commissioner in Osaka.
Mr. MacEwen’s speech addressed the growing global fuel cell market, including strong commitment from the national and local governments in Japan for the deployment of fuel cell solutions in a variety of applications.
Mr. MacEwen noted, “Japan has put significant focus on the deployment of fuel cell technology. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has referred to hydrogen as ‘energy of the future’. Ballard is working with partners, customers as well as Japan’s government bodies to help fulfil this vision of a hydrogen-based energy future.”
In 2016 Ballard hosted the Governor of Osaka, Mr. Ichiro Matsui, during his trade mission to Canada at the company’s headquarters facility in Vancouver. Also in 2016, Ballard hosted a delegation of officials from Japan’s Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) as well as Japanese industry representatives during the OCCI’s visit to North America.
OCCI is Japan’s second-largest such organization, with a membership of more than 28,000 corporations and individuals. Osaka Prefecture is located in the Kansai region on Honshu, the main island of Japan. Osaka – a large port city and commercial center – is the capital of Osaka Prefecture, with a population of approximately 8.9 million people.
