Yesterday, Monday, March 25, the Conference on the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement and SMEs, organized by the Office of the European Commission in Barcelona and the Consulate of Japan in Barcelona, was held in the Sant Pau Modernist Site.
During the event the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Japan was presented to demonstrate the benefits of this agreement, which came into force on February 1. It is the EU’s most important trade agreement and includes, for the first time, environmental commitments reached in the Paris Climate Change meetings.
Later, in the second part of the event, journalist Olga Grau moderated a debate on the challenges and benefits of doing business in Japan between different business representatives such as Jorge Lasheras, President of the Japan-Spain Business Circle (CEJE); Cristina Serradell, Director of international trade at Acció; Joan Canals, Vice President of Fepime; Víctor Campdelacreu, President of the PIMEC International Commission; and Alícia Giráldez, Head of the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade in Barcelona. During his speech, Jorge Lasheras stressed that “Japan has a lot of potential and is a very attractive market for Spanish companies.”
Likewise, at the same event different experts also participated, such as Ferran Tarradellas, Director of the Representation of the European Commission in Barcelona; José Luis Káiser Moreiras, General Director of Commercial Policy and Competitiveness of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism; Marta Felip, General Secretary of Business and Knowledge of the Generalitat de Catalunya; and Naohito Watanabe, Consul General of Japan.
