The UK and Japan have signed a trade agreement which will take effect on 1 January 2021. Experts from government, academia, and business in both Japan and the UK will discuss the future of Japan-UK relations in the 2020s.
The format of the webinar will be slightly different from past events. This extended webinar will be split into two sessions with the chance for a Q&A from the audience after each.
Session 1 – Trade
Andrew Milligan, former Head of Research at Aberdeen Standard Investments, will moderate a panel discussion of the recent UK and Japan trade agreement which took effect on 1 January 2021 while considering how important this is economically, symbolically and politically to the two economies. The panellists will discuss the outlook for trade in the 2020s: UK-Japan, UK-Canada, final Brexit outcome, Asian trade agreements such as RCEP including Japan.
Panel Members:
Keiichi Katakami – Chairman, Institute for International Economic Studies, former chief negotiator TPP
Minako Morita-Jaeger – International Trade Policy Consultant and Fellow, UK Trade Policy Observatory at the University of Sussex.
Sir David Wright – Group Global Advisor, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Chair of the CityUK’s Japan Market Advisory Group, Former Ambassador of UK to Japan.
Session 2 – Digitise or die: Common problems, common solutions for the 21st century economy
Govinda Finn, an Economist at Kobe University, will moderate a panel discussion of whether digitalisation will spur the post-pandemic recovery, what is needed for Prime Minister Johnson’s and Prime Minister Suga’s digital initiatives to succeed, the areas business leaders should focus on to find opportunity and reap benefits in Japan and the UK’s effort to digitise their economies.
Panel Members:
Naoya Oshikubo – Senior Economist, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management, Author of The Digitalization of Japan – Current Status and Issues
David Semaya – Executive Chairman, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management
Martin Schulz – Chief Policy Economist at Fujitsu
