EBC Newsletter – December 16, 2020

On Thursday 10 December, the EBC has, together with the American and the Canadian Chambers of Commerce, issued a statement on the need for the Japanese Government to better engage with the foreign residents in Japan.

This was made against the backdrop of the travel restrictions that were introduced in April of this year and then gradually eased. However, as the statement also points out, some differences in the treatment between Japanese nationals and non-Japanese residents are still in effect.

On the same day, the EBC held its last Briefing of the year on de-carbonisation, with speakers from the EU and Japan authorities and from the private sector. Please read the overview and some of the available presentations  if you were not able to attend this online event.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga took up office on 16 September. He already announced that the country will be carbon-neutral by 2050, has focused on digitization and regulatory reform and recently signed RCEP, Asia’s largest free trade zone. If you want to understand what the first three months of his administration hint for the rest of his term as Prime Minister, please join the Austrian Business Council’s webinar today!

We wish you a good reading and hope you stay positive and healthy during this difficult time.

Valerie Moschetti
EBC Chief Operating Officer

From the EBC, five representatives from various committees gave their views and insights into what is happening in their sector in regard to de-carbonisation, both in the EU and in Japan.

• EBC Briefing: de-carbonisation, 10 December 2020

Presentations:

• Energy-Taku Niioka, Chair of the Energy Committee and President of Rittal KK
• Shipping-Edmund Yeo, member of the Logistics & Freight Committee and Implementation Manager, Maersk Japan
• Asset Management-Yasunori Iwanaga, member of the Asset Management Committee and Chief Responsible investment Officer at Amundi Japan
• Aeronautics-Anthony Hoffmann, memberof the Aeronautics, Space and Defence and Security Committee and Digital Transformation Leader at Airbus
• The Delegation of the European Union to Japan-Heidi Hiltunen -First Counsellor
• Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Kaname Ogawa, Director, Electricity Infrastructure Division

Join the ABC for this webinar with Dr. Sayuri Shirai, Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, to understand what the first three months of his administration hint for the rest of his term as prime minister. Dr. Shirai will open with an explanation of the current state of play of the Japanese economy, its major macro-economic challenges before focusing on what might soon be called genuine “Suganomics”.

Registration (free of charge):
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8068037514860542220

The latest change is a simplification of our Sponsorships scheme.
Until now, when you chose to support the EBC, you were able to sponsor an event or our annual White Paper.

From 2021, you will have the opportunity to select among 6 categories of sponsorships. Depending on the category, the Sponsor will get:

• Free Membership to the EBC and participation to all EBC sectoral committees;
• His logo on the EBC website (homepage and/or dedicated sponsors’ web page);
• His logo/name in the EBC White Paper;
• His company banner/information material/keynote speaker at the EBC Briefings;
• His company name listed in EuroBiz Japan (EBC monthly magazine).

If you are interested in supporting the EBC, please have a look at the new Sponsorships Scheme and contact us at: [email protected] for further details!

This year’s White Paper is called “Strengthening partnerships – in crisis and opportunity alike” . The opportunity is of course referring to the EU-Japan EPA that entered into force on February 1, 2019. Unfortunately, at the same time the COVID -19 crisis struck the world.

We are, however, confident that with our recommendations, the European and Japanese economies and companies will continue to prosper.