Japan's Masanori Kondo to head Asia-Pacific info and communications body

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 the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, will become secretary general of the 38-member body on Feb. 9 for a three-year term, replacing Areewan Haorangsi of Thailand.

The 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-Posts and Telecommunications Ministry, which he joined in 1990, Kondo mainly worked on 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 Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, 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 promote leadership at the Agriculture Committee and help coordinate agricultural policies around the world,” the farm ministry said.

Since this year, the committee has been conducting analysis on the impact of mass coronavirus infections on the global food supply chain. The results were discussed at meetings of the Group of Seven industrialized nations and the Group of 20 major economies.