Asia Pacific Institute of Research
As the Asia-Pacific region has played an increasingly important role in international politics and the global economy in recent years, every move of the countries in this region has been drawing attention. Under these circumstances, the Asia Pacific Institute of Research (APIR) was founded in December 2011 as a research center focusing on sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific and Kansai, Japan.
The research and operational activities of APIR are conducted by a large number of members. One of the fundamental characteristics of our independent think tank is that we are not influenced by governmental interests, corporations, and other organizations. This gives us the autonomy to generate ideas and conduct our own research independently. We believe it is important to work on potential issues that are difficult to capture from a limited perspective, as well as raising issues by ourselves, conducting research from the perspective of public interest, and making proposals based on the future needs.
Why is APIR based in Kansai if it focuses on researching the Asia-Pacific region? Because Kansai is closely connected to Asia in many aspects, including tourism, human resources, and business. From here, we can clearly see the whole picture of Asia. We are a research institute that sees Asia from Kansai, instead of overlooking Kansai from Asia. We conduct research and make proposals from the Kansai point of view instead of Tokyo and contribute to developing policies and business strategies. This is the image of APIR for which we are aiming.
APIR is located in the intellectual wellspring known as ‘Knowledge Capital’ in Grand Front Osaka, an advanced development area of Umekita (the northern area of Osaka Station) that offers a globally interconnected hub for information and human resources of which APIR takes full advantage. In order to unite Kansai through knowledge at the ‘place of exchanging knowledge’, we promote exclusive research from Umekita and aim to become a research center which everybody, including member companies, can rely on when inquiring about Asia or Kansai. It is the wish of APIR to explore our potential in various aspects as a new type of think tank that understands the Asia-Pacific region and Japan/Kansai from a wide perspective.
We would appreciate your generous support and cooperation.
Asia Pacific Institute of Research
