Europe

On May 7, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended a dialogue session with European companies and representatives of Japanese companies in Europe which was co-hosted by BUSINESSEUROPE and Japan Business Council in Europe (JBCE).

1. Prime Minister Abe stated that the Japanese economy was recovering its confidence which had been lost due to the long-lasted deflation through "the three arrows", namely bold monetary policy, flexible fiscal policy and structural reform of the economy. He also noted that the Government of Japan had been taking various measures in such fields as non-tariff measures, in which the EU had keen interest, in order to encourage more investment into Japan. In regards to the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), he stated that he himself had been determined to make utmost efforts to achieve the EPA that would contribute to economic growth both in Japan and the EU and its early conclusion aiming to reach agreement in principle during 2015, and called for further support from the business sector both in Japan and the EU.
2. Subsequently, the attending companies commented on the EPA and investment in Japan, and the discussion was held over the Japan-EU economic relationship including the EPA.