The opening ceremony took place on July 26 for Eisai Co. Ltd��s new European Knowledge Centre (EKC) on a 22-acre site in a business park in Hatfield, north of London. The facility is aimed at strengthening the company��s research & development, manufacturing and marketing functions in Europe. Eisai invested around ��100 million in the construction of the EKC, and the EKC creates more than 500 jobs. The project is expected to lead to even closer collaboration between Japan and the UK in the science, technology and economic fields.

At the ceremony Ambassador Ebihara offered a message of congratulation on behalf of the Government of Japan, while the UK was represented by Ivan Lewis, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, who conveyed the warm sentiments of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Health Secretary Andy Burnham.