Sylff News

On the morning of Wednesday, May 14, 2025, the Tokyo Foundation received an unexpected but welcome phone call. Mikel Jauregi Letemendia, a 1998 Sylff fellow from the University of Deusto and currently Minister of Industry, Energy Transition, and Sustainability in the Basque Government of Spain, wished to stop by for a courtesy visit and word of thanks.

At the Foundation’s office, Jauregi was warmly received by Sylff Association Chairman Yohei Sasakawa and Tokyo Foundation President Mieko Nakabayashi.

Basque Minister Mikel Jauregi being welcomed by Sylff Association Chairman Yohei Sasakawa.

Appointed to his ministerial post under the Imanol Pradales administration in June 2024, Minister Jauregi was in Japan as part of an economic cooperation initiative rooted in the 2019 Memorandum of Understanding between the Basque Government and Fukushima Prefecture to promote collaboration in renewable energy.

During the visit, he reflected on his longstanding ties with Japan through the Sylff community. He participated in a Sylff Regional Forum in the early 2000s and was a member of the Sylff Fellows Council, through which he visited Japan and developed a deep appreciation for its culture—especially memorable were his experiences in Hakone.

Professionally, Jauregi built a distinguished career in the private energy sector, working with firms such as PwC, BP, and Centrica, and was based in London before receiving a call from the Basque Government to take up the ministerial post—a request he accepted in part out of a sense of gratitude for the support he received as a Sylff fellow.

As Minister, Jauregi has focused on strengthening partnerships between the Basque Government and industrial clusters, technology centers, and private-sector firms to enhance the region’s economic competitiveness. In October 2024, he led a delegation to Japan and Taiwan to showcase the Basque Country’s capabilities in industry, technology, and innovation.

“Sylff played a major role in shaping who I am,” he said during the visit. “Now, I want to use my experience to give back to society.”

The Sylff Association secretariat was honored by Minister Jauregi’s visit and proud to see a former fellow embodying Sylff’s mission through a life of professional excellence and public service.