Parliament Event – Japanese Businesses and the UK’s Future Economy

On the evening of Tuesday 31 October 2017, the Embassy of Japan and the British-Japanese Parliamentary Group co-hosted an event titled “Japanese Businesses and the UK’s Future Economy” at Portcullis House in London.

This event was an opportunity to highlight the significant contribution of Japanese businesses to the UK’s economic growth, including innovation through cutting-edge technology, job creation and strengthening productivity, and to look forward to a new era in the UK-Japan trade and investment relationship.

The parliamentary event follows a visit to Tokyo earlier this year by Prime Minister Theresa May and UK International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox, to outline shared ambitions for future trade.

Approximately 200 guests attended the reception, including more than 50 MPs and Lords, key representatives from UK government and industry, and around 100 Japanese business leaders, creating an invaluable platform for networking and to discuss new opportunities for economic partnership.

The event featured keynote speeches from Ambassador Tsuruoka, The Rt Hon. Dr Liam Fox MP, Secretary of State for International Trade, Mr Paul Drechsler, President of the CBI, and Mr Atsushi Kume, the new President of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the UK.

During his opening remarks, Ambassador Tsuruoka emphasised the continued strength of the Japan-UK relationship, noting a fresh impetus and momentum following recent commitments made by our two leaders to elevate our bilateral cooperation. He also highlighted the many positive activities of Japanese companies in the UK, and requested continued consideration from the UK Government towards Japanese companies throughout the Brexit process.

International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox said: “Japan is one of our largest trading partners and UK is Japan’s second most popular investment destination. As international economic department we are engaging with businesses in both countries to maintain this vital relationship and maximize new commercial opportunities as we leave the EU. I am delighted to have met with Japanese industry and UK businesses today and look forward to advancing our successful partnership through the new UK-Japan trade working group."

Mr Drechsler and Mr Kume also provided valuable insight into the challenges facing UK and Japanese industry respectively, and looked ahead to forging new opportunities for the Japanese and UK business communities to work together even closer in the future.
 

This was the third Parliament Event held by the Embassy of Japan, following previous successful events in 2015 and 2016.

For more details please see below:
- Transcript of Ambassador Tsuruoka’s speech
- Links to Japanese investment in the UK & Japanese companies in the UK video presentations

 

The Embassy of Japan