On 16 April, Mr Collett attended the Meet-the-President Cocktail Reception organised by RICS Japan. To kick-start the event, Mr Collett gave a short speech highlighting the establishment of RICS Japan and commending the progress made in developing the profession in Japan. He further welcomed 12 newly elected eminent members in Japan, who became fellows of RICS.
The newly appointed Chairman of RICS Japan, Professor Tanebe Nobuyuki, and RICS Asia Pacific Managing Director Kaye Herald also spoke at the Reception to brief about the latest development and strategic plan of RICS Japan. The event was well attended with over 50 members and among them were 22 guests who were representatives of local leading organisations in Japan. They took the time to chat with Alan and shared with each other on the development of the profession in the region.
During his trip to Japan, Mr Alan Collett presented a key-note speech at the real RICS-JREI-ARES Real Estate Symposium held on 17 April. This was the first joint event between these organisations (RICS, Japan Real Estate Institute and the Association for Real Estate Securitization) and set the stage for the upcoming RICS London Conference in July.
RICS President Alan Collett first gave a quick overview about RICS and then the international landscape for real estate particularly on property investment and macro-economic context. Finally he presented the results of the survey, collected from UK commercial property professionals, to understand the perception of UK investors on the Japanese real estate investment market.
Following the President’s speech, a panel discussion was held with Mr Yuichiro Kawaguchi, Professor of Graduate School of Finance, Accounting and Law of Waseda University as the moderator.
The panel comprised five members:
The event attracted 325 real estate professionals from across the country, including members of JREI, ARES and RICS, real estate investors, agencies, university lecturers and senior government officials.