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1. Membership
   Our current membership should be around 130 and go up to the next target, 200 at the earliest stage of the 21st century. The major possible source of new members would be JAIBS (Japan Academy of International Business Studies), which is the sole nationwide professional and academic organization for Japanese IB scholars and researchers, whose membership is 575 individuals and 5 institutions as of the end of October 2000.
    
2. Chapter Conference
   As usual, our 2000 Chapter Conference was held in joint with the 7th Annual Meeting of JAIBS at Tokyo University in Tokyo, Japan on October 21 & 22, 2000.
   
   At this year's meeting, Professor Ken'ichi Enatsu, Waseda University, who had served as Chair of AIB Japan Chapter for over 10 years before Ota replaced him in 1996, was elected as 3rd President of JAIBS for the next 3 years.
   
   For the last two years an irregular situation has existed with AIB Japan Chapter, because Ota, the current Chair, has been working at MIT, Sloan as a visiting scholar on his sabbatical leave. During his absence from Waseda University, the office of Professor Enatsu has been as working secretariat. However, since Ota will return to Waseda University in March 2001, more effective and smoother collaborations between AIB Japan Chapter and JAIBS will occur in many ways for the next 3-year JAIBS presidential term of Professor Enatsu.
    
3. Schedule Conflict of AIB Annual Meetings with JAIBS Annual Meeting
   The date of JAIBS annual meetings seems to have fixed in late October in the last few years. AIB Japan Chapter is planning to hold its 2001 Chapter Conference too in joint with JAIBS at Fukushima University in Fukushima, Japan on October 20 and 21, 2001. Since AIB Sidney Meeting is taking place from November 16 through 19, 2001, almost 1 month after JAIBS', we would see less serious schedule conflicts next year. Besides, shorter flight and little time difference with Australia should encourage more members of AIB Japan Chapter to go to Sidney. We will do our best to promote their active participation.
    
4. Linkages and Collaboration with JAIBS
   Most members of AIB Japan Chapter are concurrently affiliated with JAIBS. As you have already known, JAIBS was established in September 1994 at Waseda University thanks to his strong leadership of Professor Ken'ichi Enatsu, the former Chair of AIB Japan Chapter. JAIBS is the only independent and official academic organization in Japan that focuses on research and study of international business and its related issues. JAIBS is now widely recognized as the most excellent and powerful and largest center for development of IB studies in Japan.
   
   Among our specific collaborations with JAIBS is to invite speakers from overseas to the next year joint annual meeting in October. Some budget would be available from The Union of National Economic Associations of Japan (the supreme organization with which all the Japanese accredited academic associations, including JAIBS, in economics, business, and management, marketing areas are affiliated) to cover air tickets and accommodation for a few selected speakers. The details would be announced in the future AIB newsletter, too. Another collaboration is to explore the possibility to hold a joint meeting of JAIBS and some chapters of AIB (like the 4 Chapter Joint Regional Meeting of Asia-Pacific Area held in Hawaii) in a few years.
   
   Third, JAIBS is planning to start publishing its refereed journal (the name undetermined yet) in the near future. This project was originally expected to start this year, but it is a bit delayed for some reason. While the new journal is primarily for members of JAIBS and AIB Japan Chapter, it must be open to members of other chapters of AIB as well.

Written by Masataka Ota (Chair of AIB Japan)

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