President
Akira YAMAGUCHI
Sun Bridge Inc – Founder
Board of Directors
Akira Yamaguchi, a Japanese woman born in France and living in Quebec since 2009, grew up in a multicultural environment from a very young age;
Passionate about the media and the world of entertainment, she began her professional career in 2000 with renowned companies in the industry;
Living in Quebec since 2009, she continues her career as a business development director in the Quebec animation industry. In 2012, she decided to create Corporation SUN BRIDGE Inc. in Montreal, a consulting firm working to create a bridge with Japan in the content creation industry;
Secretary to the 2013-2015 Forum, Akira Yamaguchi has been appointed President of the Board of Directors of the Quebec-Japan Business Forum since 2017.
Treasurer of the Council
Amos SIMPSON
Banque de Tokyo – Mitsubishi UFJ Ltée (Canada) – Managing Director and General Manager
Involved since the foundation of the Quebec-Japan Business Forum, Amos Simpson has been named President of the Board of Directors in 2001-2002. Since then, he is seating at the Board as the Treasurer. As the dean Board member, Mr. Amos Simpson brings an important contribution in his excellent administration management of our association.
Member of the board
Yuji KUBO
Consulat général du Japon à Montréal – Deputy Consul General
After joining the Foreign Minister (MOFA) in 1984, Yuji Kubo served as Second and then First Secretary at the Political Section of the Japanese Embassy in France (1999-2000), and then as Deputy Chief Counselor of Japan. Mission to the Japanese Embassy in Tunisia in 2002.
In 2005, he returned to France to take up the post of Secretary General at the House of Culture of Japan in Paris (Japan Foundation).
He returned to Japan in 2009, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) for the preparation of APEC 2010. He will later be appointed Deputy Director of the Middle East Division at MOFA.
In 2012, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Japan in Senegal.
In 2015, Mr. Yuji Kubo arrived in Quebec, as Deputy Consul General at the Consulate of Japan in Montreal
Member of the board
David-Kei CODÈRE-MARUYAMA
BCF s.e.n.c.r.l. – Lawyer
David-Kei Codère Maruyama joined the BCF Montreal office in the summer of 2014 as a student. After graduating from the Université de Montréal with a law degree, Mr. Codère Maruyama continued his studies in order to obtain a Juris Doctor at the same institution;
During his law studies, Mr. Codère Maruyama was Vice-Chair of the International Affairs Committee where he was responsible for organizing a student delegation for the WTO Simulation, as well as participating in the Wilson Moot Court Competition. Mr. Codère Maruyama was fortunate to gain significant professional experience on the international scene during his academic career, including working in Shanghai, Tokyo and an international engineering firm in Montreal;
Having lived in several countries, Mr. Codère Maruyama is fluent in French, English and Japanese and has a basic knowledge of the Chinese language.
Member of the board
Claire YU
Montreal International
Director, Business Development, Asia – Investment Greater Montreal
Claire Yu leads development efforts in the Asian market at Montreal International, a public-private partnership with a mandate to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to Greater Montreal. His current responsibilities include designing and implementing FDI attraction strategies for Asian markets, with a focus on China, Japan and South Korea. Since 2007, Ms. Yu and her team have directly contributed to the contribution of more than 30 Asian investment projects from various sectors, including mining, financial services, information and communications technology, life sciences, aerospace and real estate.
Ms. Yu holds a Bachelor of Laws from Fudan University in Shanghai, China and an MBA from HEC Montréal. Before immigrating to Quebec, she worked for a French multinational in Shanghai and then at the Canadian Consulate General in Shanghai. She won the HEC Montréal Succession of Excellence Award (2013 edition) and received the Government of Canada Award of Merit in 2003.
Member of the board
Thierry SLAMA
International Affairs Advisor
Ministère de l’Économie, de la Science et de l’Innovation, Export Québec
Linkedin profile
Thierry Slama advises and supports Quebec companies in their international development projects at Export Québec, the Foreign Trade Unit at the Ministry of Economy and Innovation. As such, Mr. Slama organizes trade and ministerial missions and plans “Meet the Buyers” events in Quebec. His fields of expertise cover the entertainment and gaming sectors. He has worked on the Germany, India and Korea desks. In 2019, he was appointed head of the Japan desk.
Mr. Slama holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the École spéciale des Travaux publics in Paris (France), a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the Université de Montréal and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the École nationale d’administration publique of Quebec. Before joining the government of Quebec, he worked for the Bouygues group as a lead engineer and in the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Member of the Board
Uri PIZARRO
CLC Montréal Language School – B2B Coordinator|
Linkedin profile
After participating in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program between 2004 and 2007, Uri Pizarro was appointed administrator system at McGill University upon his return to Japan. In 2010, he joined the CLC Montreal team as a B2B coordinator working with managers and executives to help them maintain international talent.
Member of the board
Suzanne ÉTHIER
Former Delegate General of Quebec in Tokyo
Suzanne Ethier holds a doctoral degree in political science and has worked for the Government of Quebec throughout her career in international affairs. Her successive assignments abroad took her to Rome in Italy and then to Boston in the United States for the Ministry of Immigration and Cultural Communities, where she was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister in 2005. In the economic field, she headed the Asia Pacific Division of the Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade from 1997 to 2002, during which time she will chair the board of directors of the Quebec-Japan Business Forum. From 2002 to 2005, Ms. Ethier was the first economic affairs advisor at the Délégation Générale du Québec in Paris. In 2006, the Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export entrusted it with the Directorate of Enterprise Development. From December 2007 to January 2011, Suzanne Ethier represented Quebec in Tokyo as Quebec’s General Delegate to Japan. Ms. Ethier retired from the Government of Quebec in March 2012. From April 2012 to 2014, she was Director of International Relations for the Mosaicultures Internationales de Montréal.
Member of the Board
Charles-Anica ENDO
AGY-ENDO Corporation
President and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Charles-Anica Endo is CEO of AGY-Endo Corporation and EAM Advanced Materials. He has been working for more than 10 years in the fields of animal feed chemicals and advanced materials. Dr. Endo is best known for his background in nanotechnology. He has been a member of Prima Québec’s Board of Directors for Advanced Materials since 2016.
In his career, Dr. Endo has held various scientific and management positions, including with the Government of Quebec. At the university and graduate level, he has been involved in research and teaching. He has more than 40 publications and scientific conferences to his credit. He also led the Quebec initiative on the impacts of nanotechnologies (Ne3LS Network) for 5 years.
Dr. Endo has been involved in trade and business development for over 10 years in Canada, Asia and Europe where he distributes the products of major corporations including Sumitomo, GE and GSI Creos Corporation. He has also organized more than 18 economic missions to Asia (Japan, South Korea) in nanotechnology and environment. He has also organized more than 10 international conferences and is the initiator of 6 collaborative agreements between Canada and Japan. Dr. Endo was also awarded the 2009 International Collaboration Award by the Association for Nanotechnology Research (NTRA), the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST), South Korea.
Member of the board
Marc Bolduc
Fleury Michon America Inc.
Asian Business Development Dept. General Manager
Marc has more thank 20 years work experience in sales and International business development. He is presently Vice President, Business Development- Asia for the Fleury Michon, based in Montreal. Before joining Fleury Michon, Marc worked for Hitachi High-Tech AW Cryo as President for it North American operations. In addition, he has worked for Hitachi High-Technologies in Tokyo for 6 years and was involved with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan between the years of 2011-2015. Marc holds an undergraduate degree from McGill University and has an MBA from the HEC.