Port of Barcelona and CEJE analyse the business opportunities brought by the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Japan.

Today, the seminar entitled “Japan: business opportunities and challenges” took place at the World Trade Center Barcelona, organised by Port of Barcelona in partnership with the Japan-Spain Business Circle. It was a key meeting point to analyse the bilateral trade opportunities brought by the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Japan.

The seminar presentation included contributions from Joan Colldecarrera, Director of the Governing Board of the Comunidad Portuaria de Barcelona (Port Authority of Barcelona); Manuel Galán, Head of International Relations and Advertising at Port of Barcelona; Joan Romero, CEO of ACCIÓ (Catalonia Trade and Investment agency); José Ignacio Pradas, Regional Director of Trade at ICEX Catalunya and Naohito Watanabe, Consul General of Japan in Barcelona. The speakers agreed that Japan, as a country, still has a long way to go strengthen trade relations with Spain and described the tariff reduction as “very important” to Spanish companies. The Consul General of Japan in Barcelona encouraged all Spanish companies to strengthen their relations with the Land of the Rising Sun.

The Regional Director of Trade at ICEX Catalunya, José Ignacio Pradas, started the day’s second block with a panel of experts, which included the CEO of Japan External Trade Organization – JETRO, Tatsuya Kato, the president of the Japan-Spain Business Circle, Jorge Lasheras, as well as the Export Manager for Asia at Costa Brava Foods, Francesc Vidal, and the International Business manager at Sant Aniol Aigua Mineral Natural, Ariadna Prats. José Ignacio Pradas himself made reference to the business opportunities in the main sectors, suggesting that the energy sector offers the most opportunities, followed by the automotive sector, the chemical sector, the pharmaceutical sector, cosmetics and food. Tatsuya Kato, CEO of Japan External Trade Organization – JETRO, reiterated the value of the energy sector, and also highlighted the relevance of the health sciences and tourism sectors, and how they have the most opportunities in terms of foreign trade. The president of the Japan-Spain Business Circle, Jorge Lasheras, spoke about the agreement within the framework of Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s ‘Abenomics’ policy. Lasheras affirmed that it was a key treaty within the framework of this economic policy. He also highlighted the effort Abe has put in to carrying out structural reforms through two main pathways: reforming the labour market and increasing internal demand through salary increases. To round off the seminar, Francesc Vidal, Export Manager for Asia at Costa Brava Foods and Ariadna Prats, International Business manager at Sant Aniol Aigua Mineral Natural, talked about their business experiences in the Japanese market.

The day provided the chance for representatives from different companies to develop interesting networking opportunities.