Providing the tools for EU-Japan industrial cooperation

Abstract

The EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation is a unique venture, co-managed and co-funded by the European Commission Directorate General Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) and the Japanese government under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and industry (METI). It is a non-profit organisation established in 1987 aimed at promoting all forms of industrial, trade and investment cooperation between the EU and Japan and at improving EU and Japanese companies¡ competitiveness and cooperation by facilitating exchanges of experiences and know how between them.<br/> The Centre is also an operational instrument for implementing EU and Japan policy initiatives, building economic intelligence and helping our businesses access each other¡s market. The pace of the development of technologies is growing exponentially and universities and research centres play a pivotal role in this regard both in the EU and Japan. Europe and Japan should look to each other and send a signal to the world that the EU and Japan are committed to keeping the world economy working on the basis of open, fair and regulated markets. This article describes some of the tools offered by the Centre to promote and support cooperation between Japanese and EU companies