The Diplomat
Madrid hosted yesterday the twenty-eighth Meeting of the Spanish-Japanese Bilateral Business Committee, organized by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, the Secretary of State for Trade through ICEX and the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) and which jointly addressed all areas and sectors of interest in bilateral business cooperation.
The meeting was organized on the occasion of the visit to Spain of an important business delegation from Japan. Among the participants were the State Secretary for Trade, Xiana Méndez; the President of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Kazushige Nobutani, and the Co-Chairmen of the Bilateral Business Committee, the Chairman of Acciona, José Manuel Entrecanales, and the Honorary Chairman of Mitsubishi Corporation, Mikio Sasaki. On the other hand, the King received Mikio Sasaki at the Zarzuela Palace.
During the inauguration, the President of Cámara de España, José Luis Bonet, highlighted the relevance of Japan as a key ally of Spain, in an “extraordinarily complex economic context”, and the importance for the companies of the “bilateral mechanisms established between governments for the economic, technological and cultural cooperation” of both countries.
For his part, José Manuel Entrecanales recalled the “important ties that unite both countries”, which make them political and economic allies in mutually beneficial relations and place them in “good conditions to jointly face challenges”. Likewise, Mikio Sasaki highlighted the boost that the entry into force in 2019 of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and Japan has meant for economic relations, which has resulted in trade exchanges between Spain and Japan amounting to more than 7 billion euros. The co-president of the Business Committee also praised Spain’s high technological capacity in the production of generic medicines and its leadership in agri-food and textile exports.
Xiana Méndez also referred to the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement as “a framework of security and advantageous access for our exchanges”, particularly in the agri-food sector, where tariffs were reduced and a process of regulatory harmonization was initiated. According to Méndez, “Japan is the eleventh largest investor in Spain and the first Asian investor in our country”. “We have around 400 Japanese companies established in Spain with an investment stock amounting to more than 12,000 million euros, and the trend is on the rise,” she added.
From JETRO, Kazushige Nobutani reported the interest of Japanese companies in seeking cooperation opportunities with start-ups from around the world and Spain and assured that Spanish companies “have a remarkable competitiveness, especially in the field of infrastructure”.
Marta Blanco, president of CEOE International, highlighted the “unquestionable economic strength of Japan as the third largest economy in the world and its role at the forefront of industrial technology” and highlighted some of the main attractions of Spain for Japanese companies, such as the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, a diversified business network at a territorial level and opportunities for joint cooperation in third markets, of which there are already “very good examples”.
The Japanese Ambassador to Spain, Takahiro Nakamae, recalled that trade relations between the two countries are recovering to pre-COVID levels and that 2023 marks a milestone for both countries because “Japan chairs the G-7, and Spain will hold the presidency of the EU Council in the second half of the year”, which should become “an opportunity for both countries to take initiatives for global economic development”.
During the day, three discussion panels were held on Renewable Energies, the Health sector and Connectivity and New Technologies. In the afternoon, the Spain-Japan Infrastructure Forum took place. The Spanish-Japanese Bilateral Business Committee was inaugurated in 2013, coinciding with the Spain-Japan Dual Year, in an event presided over by the then Prince of Asturias and current King Felipe VI and by the then Crown Prince and current Emperor of Japan, Naruhito. Mikio Sasaki and José Manuel Entrecanales have co-chaired this Committee since its inception and in 2018 celebrated the 400th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between the two countries.
