10th BRT Annual Meeting, Tokyo, 03 & 04 July 2008:
"JOINING FORCES FOR COMPETITIVENESS AND SUSTAINABILITY"
The EU-Japan Business Round Table took place on 03 and 04 July 2008 in Tokyo, under the co-chairmanship of Messrs. Hajime Sasaki (former Chairman of NEC) and Georges Jacobs (Chairman of Delhaize Group and Honorary Chairman of UCB).
The first day of the meeting consisted of the reports by the BRT’s 6 Working Parties; the adoption of those reports and the annual "Joint Recommendations" document; and a formal drinks reception and dinner with Representatives of the EU and Japanese Authorities.
The first part of the second day of the annual meeting consisted of three thematic discussions: around the report prepared by the Joint Taskforce on an EU-Japan Economic Integration Agreement established by the 2007 BRT annual meeting; the Challenges for EU-Japan cooperation; and EU-Japan cooperation in emerging markets. During the Joint Session with Representatives of the Japanese and EU Authorities, BRT Members heard from Senior Vice-Ministers from METI, MOFA and MIC; and from the Ambassador at the Delegation of the European Commission to Japan and from a Minister-Counsellor at the French Embassy (representing the EU Council Presidency). During the closing session, the BRT Members adopted a new Terms of Reference. The meeting was followed by a Press Conference.
04/07/2008 - The BRT co-Chairmen temporarily absented themselves from the second day of the annual meeting so that they could submit the 2008 set of BRT Recommendations to Yasuo Fukuda (PM of Japan), Hugh Richardson, the Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Commission to Japan (for the European Commission) and to Philippe Faure, French Ambassador to Japan (representing the EU Council Presidency).
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| (Middle) Ambassadors Faure and Richardson receive the 2008 BRT Recommendations from BRT EU-side Chairman, Georges Jacobs. | (Rear) PM Fukuda and BRT Japan-side Chairman, Hajime Sasaki, in conversation. | (Seated, front row) Ambassadors Faure and Richardson and PM Fukuda study the BRT's 2008 Recommendations. |
The 17th EU-Japan Summit was held in Tokyo on 23 April 2008 and brought together Mr Yasuo Fukuda, Prime Minister of Japan, and Mr Janez Janša, Prime Minister of Slovenia, in his capacity as President of the European Council, and Mr José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission.
In the Joint Press Statement issued by the Summit Leaders at the end of the Summit, the Summit leaders mentioned the work of the BRT (emphasis added):
Summit leaders reiterated their intention that Japan and the EU, as leading economies, will step up their cooperation for greater prosperity and quality of life in Japan, the EU and the rest of the world through various joint endeavours such as rule-making, for example, making best use of and promoting international standards, as well as promoting innovation. Summit leaders welcomed the work of a number of bilateral dialogues under overall supervision of the High-Level Consultations, in particular the Regulatory Reform Dialogue (RRD); and both sides will make these frameworks including RRD further effective. Japan and the EU recognised the value of the work of the Business Dialogue Roundtable (BDRT) and continue to have interest in the discussions between the business communities.
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Joint venture established in 1987 by the European Commission (DG GROW) and the Japanese Government (METI) for promoting all forms of industrial, trade and investment cooperation between the EU and Japan.
The EU-Japan Centre’s activities are subject to the allocation of a Grant Agreement by the European Commission for 2024-2026
