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BIDEN-SUGA, U.S.-JAPAN SUMMIT　　Launch of the “New Era Partnership”

Overview

On April 16, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga became the first foreign leader to meet with President Biden in the White House.  The Government of Japan was determined to be the first, because of the message it sends at home and abroad about the importance of the Japan-U.S. Alliance.  The Biden administration said “yes” for the same reason.  

Japan and EU Concluded EPA Negotiations

The Japan-EU EPA negotiation is finalized on 8 December.  The parties reached to an broad agreement in July and confirmed the conclusion, excluding the investor protection issue.

Japan and UK Move Forward to Get Ready for Bilateral FTA Talk

Prime Minister Abe and British Prime Minister May agreed to accelerate a preparation for the bilateral free trade negotiations at the joint press conference last night. They also reached an agreement to establish a new ministerial-level framework for a tighter relationship, looking ahead Brexit.

GR Japan Analyses the Upcoming Democratic Party Presidential Election

GR Japan published an analysis on the Democratic Party Presidential Election. Followed by the sudden resignation by its president Renho on 27 July, the Democratic Party (DP) decided to cast a vote for her replacement on 1 September.  While Seiji Maehara and Yukio Edano have already announced their candidates, Yuichiro Tamaki and Akira Nagashima are rumored to run for the election. Who would  lead the party next and how will he pull it together?  For more details, please see the attached report.

GR Japan Analysis on the 3rd Abe Cabinet

GR Japan analyzed Prime Minister Abe's third cabinet, which was formed on 3 August. Looking for a fix to recover the low supporting rate, Prime Minister Abe played it safe by choosing 13 out of 19 cabinet members who have previously served as ministers. Please check the attached to learn more about the new cabinet and  GR Japan's overall analysis. 

Japan and EU agreed to EPA deal

Japan and the EU finally reached a broad agreement on the free trade. Prime Minister Abe, EU President Tusk and European Commission President Juncker officially announced the agreement in Hamburg on 6 July, local time.

Japan and EU continue to seek an early conclusion of EPA deal

Upon his visit to Germany for G20 foreign ministerial session, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida reconfirmed with European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom to conclude the deadlock Japan-EU EPA negotiations as early as possible.  The on-going discussion, which begun in April 2013, was originally to reach an agreement in 2016 but carried over due to obstacles in agricultural products and automobiles.

A Current Look at Corporate Public Affairs in Japan

GR Japan contributed an article "A Current Look at Corporate Public Affairs in Japan" to the Public Affairs Council newsletter. Please see the article below which was published on 26 September 2016:

"A Current Look at Corporate Public Affairs in Japan"

by Jakob Edberg, Philip Howard and Mina Takahashi, GR Japan K.K.

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