Dr. Akima Umezawa, former Consul-General of Japan（2017-2020)

 Dr. Akima Umezawa started his term as the Consul-General of Japan in Dubai in 2017.  He joined Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in 1991, and in 2009, he was appointed as the Head of Chancery to the Embassy of Japan in Singapore.  Upon returning to MOFA in 2011, he worked as the Director of Fisheries Division.  In 2013, he was appointed as as the Cabinet Counsellor to the Ocean Policy Cabinet Secretariat, and was an advisor to the Representative of the Government of Japan to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).  In 2015-2017, he was designated to the Deputy Secretary-General of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat.  Dr. Akima received a Master of Arts in International Relations (1995) and a Master of Science in Management of Information Systems (1996) from the University of Leeds, England, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Ocean Management (1991) from the University of Tokyo. Dr Akima had researched and taught in universities in Japan, the UK and India, as well as published articles in major academic publications.