Together, the Japan-Spain Business Circle and the Col·legi de Censors Jurats de Comptes de Catalunya (Association of Chartered Accountants of Catalonia) will hold a conference on the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Japan

On 30 May, the Japan-Spain Business Circle (CEJE) organised, with the Col·legi de Censors Jurats de Comptes de Catalunya, a conference to analyse the main opportunities offered by the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Japan.

The event in Barcelona, attended by ambassadors from different EU member countries, presented the EPA Agreement which came into force on 1 February 2019. Japan’s ambassador in Barcelona, Naohito Watanabe, described it as the “biggest free trade agreement in the world”, as it ties together 27.8% of the world’s GDP and 36.8% of the world’s trade in goods.

The president of the Japan-Spain Business Circle, Jorge Lasheras, assured that, through the Agreement, European exporting companies will save around 1 billion euros a year in tariff rates, and that, according to Japanese government estimations, the island country’s economy could increase by around 1% annually once all tariffs are eliminated. The Agreement, according to Lasheras, opens up many opportunities to improve bilateral relations between Japan and Spain.

After the presentation of the Agreement, Desigual’s vice president for Asia, Americas & Ceemea, Jordi Balsells, and Bruno de Bièvre, president of UBE Corporation Europe, both CEJE members, shared their respective companies’ experience of exporting goods to Japan, with those in attendance. Balsells himself appeared very hopeful about the Economic Partnership Agreement and announced that Japan was a strategic market for Desigual. De Bièvre assured that the deal represents progress between two countries with very different cultures, but very similar values.