The 26th annual meeting of the EU-Japan Business Round Table will be held in Tokyo on 12 February 2025. It will be co-chaired by Nobuhiro Endo (Japan-side BRT Chair and Executive Advisor, NEC Corporation) for the second time and by Belén Garijo (EU-side BRT Chair and Chair of the Executive Board and CEO, Merck) for the first time.

The meeting will focus on “Japan & the EU – Global Partnership in a Changing World”. The meeting will include exchanges with senior representatives of the EU and Japanese authorities and keynote speeches, as well as two-panel discussions looking at economic security and industrial competitiveness. The meeting is also expected to adopt its annual recommendations to the EU and Japanese Authorities. Participants will also discuss innovation, best practice sharing, and SDGs. The BRT brings together senior representatives of 92 EU and Japanese companies, business federations, chambers of commerce and other organisations. A fifth of its members represent SMEs and 14% represent organisations. Established in 1999, its members discuss issues of common interest; review factors affecting trade, investment and other forms of cooperation; provide an EU-Japan business perspective to both topical and long-term issues of public policy; and identify practical recommendations to the Authorities (and support EU-Japan official dialogues) to help develop trade and investment between the EU and Japan or joint investment of the two in third markets.

A report on the meeting will be included in March’s edition of EU-Japan NEWS.

Published: December 2024