Preparing the 2022 annual EU-Japan Business Round Table meeting

The 24th annual meeting of the EU-Japan Business Round Table takes place in Tokyo on Tuesday, 15 November. Co-Chaired by Masaki Sakuyama (Senior Corporate Advisor, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation) and Philippe Wahl (Chairman and CEO, La Poste Groupe), the meeting will review developments over the last year and focus on three issues:

“Green Alliance” – building on the EU-Japan Green Alliance announced in 2021, the meeting is expected to look at ‘paths to carbon neutrality’, the ‘energy transition’, enhancing ‘biodiversity’, the ‘bioeconomy’ and other green issues linked to the EU-Japan EPA.

“Digital Partnership” – following on from the Japan-EU Digital Partnership announced earlier this year, the meeting is likely to consider ‘digital transformation’, the formal ‘Japan-EU Digital Partnership’, ‘enabling SME growth through digital transformation’ and other digital issues linked to the EU-Japan EPA.

“Frontiers” – other topics potentially including ‘resilient economies, societies, cities, and social infrastructure’; ‘regulatory cooperation & cooperation in third-country markets’; ‘education and equality’; ‘economic & geopolitical risk management’ and the ‘World Trade Organization, EU-Japan EPA and other trade issues’.

Established in 1999, the BRT brings together business leaders from 82 companies and organisations from the EU and Japan. They meet annually to discuss issues of common interest; review factors affecting trade, investment and other forms of cooperation; provide an EU-Japan business perspective to topical and long-term public policy issues; and to make practical recommendations to the EU and Japanese Authorities to boost trade and investment between the EU and Japan or together in third markets. A third of members represent SMEs or business federations, chambers of commerce or other organisations. 
Senior representatives of the EU and Japanese Authorities are expected to take part in the meeting. The meeting is expected to adopt the BRT’s 2022 Recommendations that will be submitted to the EU and Japanese Authorities in due course.

A full report on the outcome of the BRT annual meeting will be included in December’s newsletter.