1. The Government of Japan has organized the symposium since 2014. It is part of policies promoted by PM Abe to achieve "a society where women shine". This year's symposium was attended by approx.150 people from about 40 countries. The symposium contains of 2 main topics of the High-Level Roundtable which are (1) Women and the Economy; with 3 sub-sessions: Work-Life Management / Engaging Men in Reforms / Women Facing Challenges, and (2) Global Issues, with 3 sub-sessions: Girls and Education / Women and Peacebuilding / Multi-stakeholder Partnerships for International Cooperation, and 6 Special Sessions which are (1) Women's Empowerment through Sanitation and (2) Women in the field of Natural Science (3) Implementing Diversity and Innovation (4) Youth Table (5) Supporting Women Entrepreneurs across Asia and (6) Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction.

2. On 28 August 2015, PM Abe delivered opening remarks at the Open Forum, in which the main points are;

• Japan will make the 21st century a century without violation of human rights against women. In this connection, it is a great honour that UN Women chose PM Abe as one of the ten male leaders who promote the engagement of women through top-down approach;
• Over the next three years, Japan will implement ODA of more than 42 billion yen for high-quality education for women;
• Japan will be the Chair of G7 next year. The issue of women empowerment will be high on the agenda on the occasion of the Ise-Shima Summit.

3. On 29 August 2015, FM Kishida delivered remarks at the Opening Session of the High-level Roundtable WAW! 2015, in which he stated that it was the immediate challenge for Japan, a rapidly aging society, to maximize women's potential.

4. H.E. Mrs. Kobkarn attended the High-Level Roundtable in the session of Work-Life Management on 29 August 2015 as one of lead speakers. The Minister shared the views on how to manage the work-life efficiently by giving some examples of (1) to utilize the philosophy of "brings good things to life" (2) to apply the Suriyasat containing of loyalty, fairness, honor system and integrity as the core value (3) to follow H.M. the King's footstep, as well as introduced some of her main policies implementing in the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand. On the 29 - 30 August 2015, the Minister visited Fukuoka and Kumamoto Prefectures to attend the programs organized by both local governments such as the inbound tourism event, riding JR Kyushu's Shinkansen and meeting with the company's CEO, the Symposium concerning women in Fukuoka and the dinner hosted by the governor of Fukuoka Prefecture.

5. Additional information

• On 28 August 2015, the National Diet of Japan passed the bill to obligate companies with 301 or more employees and central as well as local governments to come up with action plans to promote women. By April 2016, the companies as well as central and local governments are required to compile and announce their voluntary action plans with numerical targets to promote the employment of women and the appointment of women to executive positions. This is not a permanent law but legislation with specified duration of 10 years.
• On 30 August 2015, an office of UN Women was established in Tokyo, the first liaison office of UN Women in the Asia-Pacific Region. PM Abe and Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, attended the opening ceremony of the office. The office will collaborate with the Government of Japan to strengthen Japan's efforts for empowerment of women and promotion of more participation of women in the society.