EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation

Established in 1987, the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation is a unique venture [1] between the European Commission (Directorate General for Growth - Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs) and the Japanese Government (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) (METI).

EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation
Founded1987
Headquarters
Head Office Japan: 1-27-6, Shirokane Minato, Tokyo 108-0072, Japan. EU Office: Rue Marie de Bourgogne 52, Brussels, Belgium.
Number of employees
30
Website

The EU-Japan Centre has its head office in Tokyo and an office in Brussels. It is headed by two General Managers, one European and one Japanese, and has a total staff of 30 people.

Mission

The mission of the EU-Japan Centre, a non-profit organization, is to enhance all forms of industrial, trade and investment cooperation between Japan and the EU, and to strengthen the technological capabilities and the competitiveness of the European and Japanese industrial systems. The Centre was founded with a view to contributing to industrial cooperation between the Community and Japan, as specified in the Council Decision which constitutes the Centre’s legal basis.

History
1987
  • Opening of the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation (Tokyo, Japan).
  • Launch of annual comprehensive training missions in Japan, “Human Resources Trading Programme” ('HRTP'), for EU managers.
  • Launch of the “Renewable Energy” programme for EU and Japanese experts.
1988
  • Launch of annual training missions in Japan focusing on “World Class Manufacturing”, for EU managers.
  • Launch of annual training missions in Japan focusing on “Innovation Made in Japan”, for EU managers.
1992
  • The consolidation of the Centre was confirmed by Article 4 of Council Decision 92/278/EEC.[2]
1995-1996
  • Opening of the European Office of the EU-Japan Centre (Brussels, Belgium) and launch of the “Vulcanus in Europe” programme offering language courses and internships in EU companies for Japanese students.
  • The EU-Japan Centre is appointed as the Secretariat for the EU-Japan Business Round Table which brings together 50 leaders of EU and Japanese corporations.
1997
  • Launch of the “Vulcanus in Japan” programme offering language courses and traineeships in Japanese companies for EU students.
  • Launch of annual training missions in Japan on “Meet Asia in Japan” for EU managers.
1998
  • Launch of annual training missions in Japan on “Distribution & Business Practices” for EU managers.
  • The 'HRTP' programme is reformed /shortened / renamed “Japan Industry Insight”.
2000
  • The EU-Japan centre is appointed as “Coordinator in Europe” of Osaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s annual “Global Venture Forum” – a forum for EU and Japanese companies in new, high-tech, and emerging fields of business.
2003
  • Launch of a series of seminars on EC policies targeting Japanese managers.
2005
  • The “Vulcanus in Japan” programme is extended to engineers in architecture.
  • The “EU-Japan Bridge”, the first directory ever of all EU-Japan related organisations, is published under the supervision of the Centre. The “EU-Japan Bridge” is a directory of economic, industrial, technological, scientific and cultural links between each of the 25 EU Member States and Japan and is aimed at EU companies or individuals interested in starting or developing existing activities in Japan.[3]
2007
  • Launch of annual missions on “FDI in Japan” for EU managers.
  • Launch of seminars on EU-Japan intercultural management.
2008
  • Launch of a series of seminars on Industrial Policy, Trade & Investment, and Environment & Energy.
2010
  • The EU-Japan Centre is appointed coordinator for J-BILAT (EC support towards the participation of the Japanese research community in the EU 7th Research Framework Programme).
  • The EU-Japan Centre is appointed coordinator of the "Enterprise Europe Network".
2011
  • The Centre signs a Memorandum of Understanding with ZENIT GmbH (representing the European Cluster Collaboration Platform) with the objective of strengthening business, research and technological cooperation between EU and Japanese clusters.
2012
  • Reinforced support for the internationalisation of SMEs. The Centre has started a new comprehensive info service in English on government procurement tender notices in Japan.
  • The Centre joins the EU funded consortium GNSS.Asia with the aim of promoting EU-Japan industrial cooperation on satellite navigation applications.
  • Launch of thematic cluster missions in Japan.
2013
  • The Centre launches “Step in Japan” (free office space in Tokyo for EU SMEs ... and much more) and “Minerva”(a fellowship on policy analysis).
  • Launch of "Lean in Europe": a training missions in the EU on World Class Manufacturing and Driving Competitiveness, for the attention of EU managers.
  • Launch of "Japan-EU Partnership in Innovation, Science and Technology (JEUPISTE), a new BILAT project.
  • September 2013: Launch of a new BILAT project: "Japan-EU Partnership in Innovation, Science and Technology (JEUPISTE)"
2014
  • The EU-Japan Centre launches the "Keys to Japan" annual competition, providing professional market business plans with the support of JMEC.
  • The EU-Japan Centre launches a Japan-related information portal www.eubusinessinJapan.eu: an online portal of information for all EU SMEs seeking to do business with or in Japan.
  • Launch of "About Japan" webinars, for EU companies wishing to improve their knowledge of conducting business in Japan, and of "Kaizen" webinars, aiming at introducing and implementing KAIZEN within companies.
  • The EU-Japan Centre launches the Tax and Public Procurement Help-desk, to support the market access of EU companies (especially SMEs) to Japan (free information, related training, online resources).
  • From April 2014, the EU-Japan Centre was formally appointed as National Contact Point (NCP) for Horizon 2020 in Japan.
2015
  • Launch of incoming missions to European regions, on the occasion of thematic fairs (for Japanese participants)
  • Launch of Cross Cultural Workshop in the EU (in cooperation with local members of EEN): EU companies are offered the chance to get acquainted with the principles of Japanese business cultureincoming missions.
2016
  • Launch of the Japan Industry & Policy monthly newsletter: news from varioius Japanese language sources of potential interest for the EU-Japan Industrial Cooperation.
  • Launch of EU-Japan Tech Transfer Help-desk: a service supporting companies and individuals searching for and acquiring technologies. ( service backed by a web portal http://www.eu-jp-tthelpdesk.eu, providing general information on intellectual property rights, their use and possible monetization options).
  • Launch of 1-day partnering event for Biotech mission to Japan: pre-arranged B2B meetings between business representatives of EU companies and Japanese companies of the Kansai region, prior to the BioJapan Expo.
2017
  • Launch of 1-day partnering event for ICT mission to Japan: pre-arranged EU-Japan ICT B2B meetings between business representatives of EU and Japanese companies in Tokyo, prior to the IT fair.
  • 30th anniversary of the EU-Japan Centre.
2018
  • EPA Helpdesk/webinars series: the EPA Help-desk aims at raising awareness of the opportunities offered by the Economic Partnership Agreement and at helping EU SMEs take advantage of them. Specific EPA-related topics or sectors are covered by monthly webinars, fact-sheets and practical guides.
  • Organization of a Food & Drinks 5-day mission to focus on the organic sector, including an exhibition space at the FOODEX JAPAN.
  • Launch of Get Ready for Japan, a 2-week mission to Japan to get an in-depth understanding of how to do business in Japan

Deliverables

Main deliverables so far include:

  • 1,500 executives participating in business & training missions to Japan;
  • 150 EU and Japanese experts participating in Alternative Energy missions;
  • 1,000 EU participants in Lean/Kaizen/WCM-related missions in Japan or Europe
  • 25,000 EU and Japanese participants in 300 policy seminars
  • 900 EU and Japanese engineering students participating in the Vulcanus programme.
  • 30 Cross-cultural events and 40 R&D-Innovation events
  • 200 analytical reports and e-learning webinars/videos
  • 3 regular newsletters (business-policy-R&D) reaching a total of ca 20,000 recipients
  • 12 partnership agreements contracted thanks to the EEN network

References
  1. 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: europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-05-426
  2. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31992D0278HTML
  3. http://www.eucyl.jcyl.es
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