An event held in Singapore to introduce Japanese food (February 25-27, 2011)
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Supporting Japanese Nationals and Companies Overseas |
Approximately 16 million Japanese citizens travel overseas each year. The number of Japanese living abroad has also been increasing year by year, and has reached about 1.13 million (as of October 2009). A large number of Japanese nationals are active in many fields in the world. This also results in the increase and the diversification of the risks and dangers Japanese face abroad. To protect the lives and properties of Japanese nationals overseas understanding that it is an important mission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to understanding that it, and it implements various measures to ensure that Japanese can live and work abroad safely and securely.
The Ministry collects and provides wide-ranging information concerning the security and the sense of safety of Japanese abroad, including information on accidents and crimes such as terrorist attacks and kidnapping cases, wars and conflicts, natural disasters, and the spread of infectious diseases. The Ministry also calls on individual Japanese national to raise awareness of crisis management and take their own safety measures. In cases where Japanese nationals are involved in dangers, meanwhile, the Ministry continues to strengthen systems and infrastructure to provide effective assistance to the utmost extent.
In addition to issuing passports and various types of certificates, handling overseas voting, and providing other fundamental administrative services through Japanese embassies and consulates in each country, the Ministry supports the basics of the daily lives of Japanese nationals residing overseas by such activities as giving assistance to Japanese schools and supplementary education schools and providing medical and healthcare-related information. These measures are important services for Japanese people and enterprises conducting or expanding activities overseas.
The presence of Japanese immigrants and their descendants - who have long contributed to the development of their countries of residence and helped strengthen bilateral ties as “bridges” between Japan and those countries - constitutes an important asset for advancing diplomacy for establishing Japan as an open country. Japan continues to support Japanese immigrants and their descendants.
Amid the changing international economic environment with the advance of globalization and the rise of emerging economies, it is extremely important for Japan to strengthen the competitiveness of Japanese enterprises and individuals overseas to achieve a strong economy. Actively supporting Japanese enterprises has become particularly important in recent years, with the advance of economic partnership worldwide and the rising demand for infrastructure, especially in Asia. The Ministry is using its overseas establishments and other channels to gather opinions from Japanese enterprises on the issues they are facing overseas to better respond to their inquiries and requests. The Ministry also holds dialogues and discussions on regulatory reform and improvements to the business environment with different countries to call for further improvement in these countries.
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An event held in Singapore to introduce Japanese food (February 25-27, 2011) |
The Ministry works toward the improved use and operation of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) taking into consideration requests from Japanese enterprises overseas, and it conducts periodic reviews to make sure EPAs are implemented properly. The Ministry is working to lessen the burdens of Japanese enterprises and nationals overseas by concluding social security agreements to resolve the problems of duplicate social insurance contributions to two countries and of lapsed contributions. As part of the initiative to establish Japan as an intellectual property-based country, the Ministry is working to strengthen protection of the intellectual property of Japanese enterprises by conducting such activities as reaching out to other countries through both bilateral and multilateral consultations, based on complaints from Japanese enterprises that are being damaged by counterfeit and pirated goods.
