EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation
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{{Infobox company
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| logo =EU-Japan Centre New Logo.jpg
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| founded = {{Start date and age|1987|05|15}}
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| location_city = Head Office Japan: 1-27-6, Shirokane Minato, Tokyo 108-0072, Japan.
EU Office: Rue Marie de Bourgogne 52,
1000 Brussels, Belgium.
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| num_employees = approx. 30
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| homepage = https://www.eu-japan.eu/
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The EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation (日欧産業協力センター, nichiō-sangyō-kyōryoku sentā) is a unique collaboration
Speech by Günter Verheugen, Vice President of the European Commission responsible for Enterprise and Industry, Further Improving EU-Japan Business Ties, Brussels, 8 July 2005, SPEECH/05/426 (online), available at: [https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_05_426] between the European Commission and the Japanese government, established on
15 May 1987.
The founding bodies were the European Commission's Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry (DG ENTR), now succeeded by DG GROW (Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs), and Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), which was reformed into the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Upon its founding, it was initially called the EC-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation (EC産業協力センター).30 Years EU-Japan Centre booklet: [https://cdnw8.eu-japan.eu/sites/default/files/publications/docs/booklet_web.pdf]
With the entry into force of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) in February 2019—marking a new phase in bilateral relations and encompassing around 40% of global trade—the partnership further deepened through the EU-Japan Green Alliance (2021) and Digital Partnership (2022). In light of this evolving relationship, the EU-Japan Centre, which had been operating since 1987, became an independent corporate entity under Japanese law on 1 July 2020, having previously acted as an affiliate of the IIST/CIEC. Message from President Nikolaus Boltze: [https://www.eu-japan.eu/message-president]
The EU-Japan Centre is headquartered in Tokyo, with its European office, opened in 1996, located in Brussels. It is led by two General Managers—one European and one Japanese—and has a total staff of approximately 30 people.
Mission
The mission of the EU-Japan Centre, a non-profit organisation, is to enhance all forms of industrial, trade, and investment cooperation between Japan and the EU, thereby strengthening the technological capabilities and competitiveness of both the European and Japanese industrial sectors.
Activities
The Centre’s objective is to promote all forms of industrial, trade, science & technology or R&D cooperation between the EU and Japan, as well as to improve EU and Japanese companies’ competitiveness by facilitating exchanges of expertise and experience through a full range of support services. Notably, the ‘[https://www.eu-japan.eu/events/vulcanus-europe Vulcanus in Europe]’ programme allows EU companies to host a highly skilled Japanese engineering/science student (along with its counterpart ‘[https://www.eu-japan.eu/events/vulcanus-japan Vulcanus in Japan]’ allowing EU students to intern in Japanese companies), while [https://www.eu-japan.eu/events/world-class-manufacturing-mission World Class Manufacturing] (WCM), [https://www.eu-japan.eu/events/get-ready-for-japan-training-programme-1 Get Ready for Japan], and other trainings and sectorial missions prepare EU companies to establish or expand their business in Japan.
The [https://www.eu-japan.eu/brt Business Round Table] (BRT) is a yearly meeting between industry leaders, with the main objectives to submit recommendations to the Japanese and European Authorities so as to help develop trade and investment between the EU and Japan, and to encourage industrial cooperation. Several other business services, including intelligence gathering and policy updates, have proven to be a success in developing the partnership between the two economies.
A full overview of current activities can be found at [https://www.eu-japan.eu/summary-activities Activities of the EU-Japan Centre in a nutshell].
History
The EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation has increasingly broadened its scope and activities since its establishment in 1987. Since then, the Centre has played an important role in consolidating the links between the European Union and Japan. Here is a timeline of major developments.
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| 1987 | * EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation founded in Tokyo
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| 1988 | * “Innovation Made in Japan” mission introduced
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| 1996 | * Brussels office opened, serving as the Centre’s EU-side counterpart
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| 1997 | * “Vulcanus in Japan” programme launched: internships and language training for EU students
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| 1998 | * “Distribution & Business Practices” mission added |
| 2000 | * Appointed “Coordinator in Europe” for the Osaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry's “Global Venture Forum”
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| 2001 | * ICT version of "Meet Asia in Japan" programme launched
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| 2003 | * Seminar series on EC policies for Japanese managers started |
| 2005 | * “Vulcanus in Japan” extended to engineers in architecture
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| 2007 | * “FDI in Japan” mission introduced
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| 2008 | * Seminar series on Industrial Policy, Trade & Investment, and Environment & Energy initiated |
| 2010 | * Appointed coordinator for J-BILAT (EC support for participation of Japanese researchers in EU’s 7th Research Framework Programme).
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| 2011 | * Memorandum of Understanding signed with ZENIT GmbH to strengthen EU-Japan cluster cooperation |
| 2012 | * Joined the GNSS.Asia consortium (Global Navigation Satellite Systems Asia) to promote EU-Japan cooperation on satellite navigation applications
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| 2013 | * Launched Step in Japan, a landing pad service for EU-based SMEs entering or expanding in Japan
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| 2014 | * Initiated Keys to Japan, a programme helping EU SMEs develop market entry strategies
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| 2015 | * Introduced Japan Incoming Missions support under the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) framework, enabling EU firms to meet Japanese business delegations in the EU
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| 2016 | * Started publishing the “Japan Industry & Policy” newsletter, a monthly digest of Japanese policy news and industry trends
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| 2017 | * Organised ICT business meetings in Tokyo aligned with a major international tech fair |
| 2018 | * Launched the EPA Helpdesk and monthly webinars to assist EU SMEs in leveraging the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
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| 2019 | * Rolled out Export Support Workshops across the EU in cooperation with EEN, to guide businesses on Japanese export procedures
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| 2020 | * Replaced in-person workshops with Export Support Webinars in response to COVID-19 restrictions
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| 2021 | * The EUFood2Japan platform was developed for EU organic food companies |
| 2022 | * Export Support workshops restarted as Market Access Workshops |
| 2023 | * EU2Japan Green and Digital platforms developed for B2B matchmaking
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| 2024 | Cluster missions were reintroduced as business missions, and in that frame, the Centre launched new sectoral missions:
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==Achievements==
- 2.000 Executives participating in business & training missions to Japan
- Over 1.200 EU participants in Lean/Kaizen/WCM-related missions in Japan or Europe
- 25.000 EU and Japanese participants in 300 policy seminars
- Over 1.250 EU and Japanese engineering students participating in the Vulcanus programme
- Over 100 cross-cultural and sectoral workshops
- Over 500 business, policy, cultural reports and webinars/videos
- 5 regular newsletters (business-policy-R&D – public procurement) reaching a total of ca 15.000 recipients
- Over 100 partnership agreements signed thanks to the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN)
- 150 EU and Japanese experts participating in Alternative Energy missions