Members of the non-partisan Federation of Diet Members for the ILC (FDMILC) met with Hon. Stefan Kaufmann, a member of the German federal parliament (Bundestag) on October 29th. Hon. Kaufmann has served as an intermediary for the ILC project on the European side, and said, “If the Japanese national government shows a positive stance within the year, then I think that the researchers of Europe and the German government would favorably support the project.”

Vice-chair of the FDMILC, Hon. Shunichi Suzuki (House of Representatives, Iwate 2nd district), Secretary-general Hon. Ryu Shionoya and other members met with Hon Kaufmann, Joachim Mnich (Director at DESY, Germany) and Maxim Titov (CEA-Saclay, France).

Hon. Kaufmann said, “Interest in the ILC is high in Germany and France. I think it would be good if the three countries of Japan, Germany, and France act as an alliance to push forward the ILC.” Regarding financial support, he said, “If the ILC is realized, then during the operations phase, you’ll be able to get a number of partners from other countries, and I think there will be financial support. But I can’t deny that there is some financial risk for the host country.”

Hon. Suzuki said, “The Tohoku region is working hard to prepare itself to receive the project.”

Hon. Kaufmann will visit Iwate Prefecture on October 30th to see the ILC candidate site and have a dialogue with Iwate Governor Takuya Tasso.