President HASHIMOTO Kazuhito was awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Knight Class (Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana), and received the decoration from Mr. Ambassador Plenipotentiary Gianluigi BENEDETTI, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic to Japan, at the Embassy of Italy in Tokyo on January 29.

The decoration is awarded to individuals who have promoted friendly and cooperative relations with Italy. The award to President Hashimoto was made for his remarkable contribution to scientific cooperation between Japan and Italy.

At the ceremony, Ambassador Benedetti stated, “As President of JST, Japan's most important agency for funding and implementing scientific and technological projects, Professor Hashimoto has made a significant contribution in recent years to reviving cooperation in this sector with Italy” and further added, “Thanks to President Hashimoto's efforts, scientific and technological cooperation between Italy and Japan is making a great leap forward in quality, with significant economic and industrial repercussions for both of the countries.”

JST will continue to actively promote international cooperation and contribute to the advancement of science, technology and innovation.

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