About us

Governance

Bureau

The Committee elects a Bureau composed of a President, a first and second Vice President and a Rapporteur. The term of office of the Bureau runs from the end of one session of the Committee to the end of the subsequent session.

Following the entry into force of the Tokyo Convention on 1 February 2018, the Republic of Korea was elected President and host of the First Session of the Tokyo Convention Committee held in October 2018, together with China as First Vice-President, Australia as Second Vice-President and New Zealand as Rapporteur. In September 2019 during the Second Session of the Committee, Japan was elected President with Republic of Korea as First Vice-President, Australia as Second Vice-President and New Zealand as Rapporteur. Given the impacts of COVID-19, the Third Session and First APNNIC Plenary were postponed in 2020 and held virtually in October 2021. In the Third Session, China was elected President with Australia as First Vice-President, Fiji as Second Vice-President and Holy See as Rapporteur. In the Fourth Session in 2022, Australia was elected President with New Zealand as First Vice-President, Mongolia as Second Vice-President and Holy See as Rapporteur. In the Fifth Session in November 2023, New Zealand was elected as President, Japan as First Vice-President, Australia as Second Vice-President, and Holy See as Rapporteur.

Following the election in November 2025, the current joint Bureau of the Tokyo Convention Committee and APNNIC for 2026-2027 until the end of the Seventh Session in 2027 is as follows.

President: China 

First Vice-President: Republic of Korea 

Second Vice-President: Japan 

Rapporteur: New Zealand

Parties (as of December 2025)

Members

The Tokyo Convention currently has 12 states parties including Afghanistan, Armenia, Australlia, China, Fiji, Holy See, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Türkiye.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE LIST OF STATES PARTIES

Committee

According to the Tokyo Convention, the body to oversee, promote and facilitate the implementation of this Convention shall be the Committee of the Asia-Pacific Regional Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education.
The Committee shall be composed of one representative of each Party. The Committee may adopt, by a majority vote of the Parties, recommendations, declarations, protocols and models of good practice to guide the competent recognition authorities of the Parties in their implementation of this Convention and in their consideration of applications for the recognition of qualifications in higher education.

The committee shall meet in ordinary session at least every three years.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TOKYO CONVETION

Secretariat – UNESCO

The Director-General of UNESCO plays the role of Secretariat of the Committee. The Secretariat aims to:

  • increase ratification of the Tokyo Convention through country-specific policy advice
  • enhance visibility of the Convention’s benefits through awareness raising and information sharing
  • implement the Convention through technical support, capacity building and resource mobilization
  • foster cooperation for regional knowledge sharing, networking and peer learning
  • monitor implementation and challenges faced by Member States
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