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Toegelaten gesloten verpakking: genT x 03/50 België - Belgique P.B. gent x 3/1294 P 409556 Trade Flows & Cultural News Number 87 - June 2010 editorial Cherry trees in spring, Embassy in the garden, Blossoming friendship By H.E. Steven Vanackere, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dear readers, It was with great pleasure that I accepted to write even the most violent earthquakes. In my opinion, the foreword to the June issue of the BJA magazine this entails some promising symbolism: our two H.E. Steven Vanackere Trade Flows and Cultural Newsletter for I consider countries have in some respects developed similar the Belgium-Japan Association & Chamber of Com- socio-economic features and they both will have to In this issue merce as an important pillar of the Japan-Belgium find ways to adjust to the miscellaneous challenges relations. BJA offers Japanese and Belgian com- facing them in an ever accelerating pace, and try to 2 Press Conference and Business Luncheon panies the best possible platform to meet and ex- learn from each other how to turn these into oppor- 3 Business Seminar: Belgium change views on various topics. It also gives the tunities. This inspired me to pronounce the follow- and its neighbours opportunity to discover the Belgian way of life in a ing haiku poem at the opening ceremony: “Cherry 4 Exclusive visit to the leisurely way. trees in spring, Embassy in the garden, Blossoming D’Ieteren Gallery 5 BJA Annual General Assembly friendship”. 6 Pre-opening visit to the As you all probably know, Prime Minister Yves Le- Château de Beloeil terme and I recently visited Japan. I had the op- Rest assured that I consider BJA as part of this 7 Friendship Committee News portunity to meet H.E. Katsuya Okada, Minister for blossoming friendship. I would particularly like to 9 Interview - Mr Kamiya Masayuki Foreign Affairs of Japan, while the Prime Minister highlight the time and energy dedicated to prepare 10 Inauguration of the Belgian was received by his Japanese counterpart, Mr Yukio and finalize the excellent brochure “Belgium and Embassy in Tokyo Hatoyama. Both meetings were very cordial, which its neighbours’ business climates compared”. At 12 Facts & Figures on Japan: is a pretty strong testament to the friendship be- its presentation, first in Brussels and subsequently Saitama Prefecture 13 EU-Japan News tween both countries. I also witnessed first-hand in Tokyo, which I personally addressed, the audi- 15 News for the members the strength and potentialities of various Japanese ence viewed this well-argued and neatly conceived 16 News from the members companies and I am therefore convinced that Japan brochure as a token of confidence for investing in 20 Encounters with passion is still the driving force behind innovation in Asia. Belgium. I do wish to express my appreciation to all 22 Personalia My meetings in Tokyo and Nagoya with Japanese Japanese companies operating in Belgium. Not only business leaders gave me furthermore a good in- because the Belgians do appreciate their activities sight on the strategic approach towards growth in Belgium, but also because the high standards Advertising rates markets worldwide. It also provided me with addi- they set to production and services are widely seen tional Japanese views on how the strategic coop- as a lasting guarantee of quality. I know that there 4 issues (March, June, Sep- eration with European economies will be tackled in are still some administrative barriers that have to tember & December) the future. be removed. Rest assured that, together with the 1 page .................... € 3.500 other Belgian administrative authorities, the Minis- 1/2 page ................ € 1.600 The festive inauguration of the new Embassy of try of Foreign Affairs is doing its very best in order to Belgium in Tokyo on 8 April will certainly be re- simplify present requirements. contact: BJA Office membered as a milestone in our bilateral relations. avenue Louise 287, box 7 Inspired by the Japanese architect Noriake Okabe, I wish BJA much success! 1050 Brussels the whole building was erected with state of the art technologies. I was very impressed by the hydrau- [email protected] lic systems enabling the whole building to resist T 02/644 14 05 F 02/644 23 60 Resp. editor: A. Kellens - 287, avenue Louise bte 7 - 1050 Brussels - T +32 (0)2 644 13 33 F +32 (0)2 644 23 60 e [email protected] BJA quarterly newsletter / driemaandelijks tijdschrift (maart - juni - september - december) - Afgiftekantoor: gent x We currently hold your contact details on our Trade Flows & Cultural News Database. We use this information for our own internal purposes only in order to send you this Trade Flows & Cultural Newsletter. If any of your details are incorrect or if you no longer wish to receive this publication, please inform us by e-mail at [email protected] www.bja.be Bj141_TFjuni10.indd 1 18/05/10 16:47 bja report Press Conference and Business Luncheon for the official release of a new publication 「ベルギーと周辺国の投資環境の比較」出版記念プレス・コンファレンスと昼食会開催 Tuesday 2 February 2010, Hotel Metropole Mr Masatomo Nomura, Director of KPMG and Chairman of BJA Invest- Mr Thomas Leysen, Chairman of Umicore and President of BJA (left to right) Mr Koichi Nakamura, President & Managing Director of ment Committee, is presenting the newly published booklet, ‘Belgium welcomes Minister Mitsugu Saito, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of Japanese Kaneka Belgium and a Member of BJA Board of Directors, shares his view and Its Neighbours’ Business Climates Compared’. Embassy of Belgium to the Business Luncheon. with H.E. Mr Yves Leterme, Prime Minister of Belgium, and Mr Thomas Leysen, Chairman of Umicore and President of BJA. On Tuesday 2 Febru- business environment in Belgium and the sur- ary 2010, the Invest- rounding countries. Following the presenta- ment Committee of tion, Mr Akihito Fujita, Director of F.P.N.I. Bel- the Belgium-Japan As- gium (Ariake) gave a thorough overview on how sociation and Cham- F.P.N.I. Belgium has come to invest in Belgium. ber of Commerce (BJA) Following some active Q & A, the participants had the pleasure in enjoyed a cocktail while continuing to exchange holding a press con- comments on the ‘studies of studies’ which has ference and business brought Belgium as a leading destination in Eu- luncheon for the offi- rope for inward investment. cial press release of a new publication, Mr Thomas Leysen, President of BJA and Chair- (left to right) Mr Akihito Fujita, Director of F.P.N.I. Belgium, enjoys having an man of Umicore greeted the participants to the H.E. Mr Yves Leterme, Prime Minis- extensive conversation with Mr John Verzeele, Director Inward Investment ter of Belgium gives a speech during Asia of Flanders Investment & Trade, and Mr Van den Broeck, Senior Advi- business luncheon where H.E. Mr Yves Leterme, the Business Luncheon. sor of Port of Antwerp. Prime Minister of Belgium, addressed the audience with his sincere high hope for the increase of foreign direct invest- “Belgium and Its Neighbours’ Business Climates Compared”. ments especially from Japan to Belgium in the future. There- after, Mr Mitsugu Saito, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Japanese The press conference started with a welcoming speech by Mr Embassy in Belgium showed his gratitude toward the Belgians Masatomo Nomura, Chairman of the BJA Investment Com- for their warm acceptance and support for Japanese investors mittee and Director of KPMG, who subsequently presented to its promising country. an outline of the brochure which covers a comparison of the 2 Bj141_TFjuni10.indd 2 18/05/10 16:47 bja report Business Seminar “Belgium and its Neighbours’ Business Climates Compared” ビジネスセミナー「ベルギーと周辺国の投資環境の比較」 Thursday 8 April 2010, Tokyo At the occasion of the official opening of the new Embassy of Belgium compound in Tokyo, the Deputy-Prime Minister & Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Steven Vanackere, convened a business seminar on 8 April. Masatomo Nomura, Director of KPMG and the Chairman of the Investment Committee of BJA, gave the key note address on the comparison of business envi- ronments. The seminar attracted 115 delegates from Japanese companies and governmental organisations. It was a repetition of the success of the press conference and luncheon on 2 Feb- ruary, in which the Prime Minister H.E. Yves Leterme joined. The seminar started with an opening remark of Thomas Ley- sen, Chairman of Umicore and BJA President. The Deputy Deputy-Prime Minister then delivered his speech before the presentation by Masatomo Nomura. And the winner is…. A very lively Q&A session followed the presentation. The ques- tions focused on public security and the Notional Interest De- In the framework of the publication “Belgium and its duction. neighbours business climate compared”, a competi- tion was set up for a design, drawing or graphic – for According to the comments by one of the participants after the the front cover and the back cover of the publication. seminar, it is true that Belgium is drawing more and more at- tention as one of the most attractive strategic investment des- The winning design would be used in the publica- tinations in Europe. tion. The prize of the winner was a return flight ticket to Japan, by the courtesy of ANA. The key note speech, which was aimed at Japanese companies considering European locations, provided an overview of busi- We are very pleased to announce that the winner of the ness environments through objective sources such as OECD competition was Mr Shawn Cooper. and World Bank in four areas; global attractiveness, head- quarters and holding companies, logistics and R&D. It was We nevertheless thank all the other competitors for all based on our recent publication “Belgium and its Neighbours’ their creative works! Business Climates Compared”.