Prime Minister Kishida’s Attendance at the Luncheon Meeting with U.S. Business Leaders (Summary)

On April 9th, commencing at 12:00 p.m. (local time 1:00 a.m. on April 10th, Japan Time) for approximately 60 minutes, during his official visit to Washington, DC, Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, attended a luncheon meeting with U.S. business leaders, which was co-hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.-Japan Business Council. The overview of the meeting is as follows. The CEOs and executives of the leading U.S. companies as well as Ms. Suzanne P. Clark, President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Mr. Douglas Peterson, Chairman of the U.S.-Japan Business Council attended and exchanged views on how to further strengthen economic relations between Japan and the U.S. focusing on critical and emerging technology cooperation.

1. At the outset, President Clark stated that the primary mission of the U.S.-Japan Business Council is to strengthen the U.S.-Japan economic partnership and it is the cornerstone of the stability and peace in the Indo-Pacific region. She also stated that the U.S.-Japan relations have never been stronger and she would like to continue to strengthen cooperation and collaboration with Japan.

2. Prime Minister Kishida then stated that in order to make this year the one in which the Japanese economy will completely break away from the deflationary mentality and cost-cutting contractionary tendencies that have gripped the Japanese economy, Japan will vigorously promote efforts to revitalize the Japanese economy through increasing incomes, capital investment, labor mobility beyond company boundaries and labor market reforms, active corporate renewal and corporate governance reforms. Prime Minister Kishida also pointed out the importance of Japan and the U.S. working together to enhance the resilience of their economies and drive global economic growth in critical and emerging technologies such as semiconductors, AI, quantum, and clean energy, and expressed his hopes for further strengthening the Japan-U.S. economic relations through the expansion of mutual investment between the two countries in these areas.

3. Subsequently, in the discussion with the U.S. business leaders, they introduced their businesses in Japan and the U.S. and exchanged views on examples and possibilities of collaboration with Japanese companies in the fields such as IT, semiconductors, energy, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, finance, aviation, defense. They expressed their expectations for further development of Japan-U.S. economic relations.

4. In closing, Prime Minister Kishida stated that he had a renewed sense of the deepening of the Japan-U.S. business relations in the respective fields, that he shared a strong determination that it was Japan and the U.S. that would lead the global community towards global stability and prosperity and that he would like to continue to strengthen collaboration between Japan and the U.S. in the fields including semiconductors, energy, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.