Hand-over Ceremony of the Pilot Plant was held at Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) located in the Thailand Science Park on May 19, 2011, in the presence of Minister Virachai Virameteekul, Ministry of Science and Technology of Thailand, and Japanese Ambassador Kojima. This plant was completed under the collaborative research for Innovation on Production and Automotive Utilization of Biofuels from Non-food Biomass, which is the program of Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

Five institutions, namely AIST, Waseda University, National Science and Technology Development Agency of Thailand (NSTDA), TISTR and King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, are carrying out this project, and they are implementing experimental studies of biofuels from non-food biomass, utilizing a pilot plant for automobile fuels from jatropha curcas. Human resource development of young Thai researchers, promotion of technology transfer and standardization of biodiesel fuels in Asia are also being carried out in this project.

The six members of Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) led by Rector Akhmaloka visited Tsukuba Central 7 and had a talk with AIST Vice-President Yamazaki and Director Wakita of the Geoinformation Center, AIST.

The party was comprised of ITB Rector Akhmaloka, Vice Rector Abidin, Vice Rector Irwati, Prof. Sude and two researchers, graduates of ITB presently belonging to a Japanese university and institute. Dr. Saepuloh Asep of AIST, also a graduate of ITB, led the party as their guide.

The party headed by Rector Akhmaloka arrived in Japan on June 10 to attend the science and technology workshop held by Indonesian and Japanese institutions every year, and they visited AIST after visiting Japan Atomic Energy Agency in Tokai village.

Following the introduction about AIST given by Vice-President Yamazaki, Rector Akhmaloka also gave a general description of ITB. In addition, Director Wakita of the Geoinformation Center gave a report of the research activities in the fields of geology, and Dr. Saepuloh Asep gave a report of the analysis of volcanic activities based on satellite data.

Since there are many earthquakes and volcanic disasters in Indonesia as there are in Japan, Rector Akhmaloka asked for collaborative research with AIST for the mitigation of earthquake and volcanic disasters in addition to petroleum and mineral exploration and marine geological survey.

AIST has been already active in collaborative research with Indonesia. For example, the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) and AIST concluded a comprehensive MOU on research cooperation. With this visit, further collaboration in research related to the geological fields including seismological and volcanic research is expected.