The EU Business Hub @ Smart Energy Week Autumn 2025 Business Mission, taking place from September…
The EU-Japan Centre runs the EU-Japan Business Cooperation with ASEAN, Africa and Latin America Helpdesk (hereinafter, the "EJ3A helpdesk") with the aim to support business cooperation between EU and Japanese companies in and with ASEAN, Africa and Latin America. Business support will be provided by the helpdesk through various activities such as matchmaking events and seminars inviting interested European and Japanese companies. Actions undertaken by the helpdesk will seek cooperation with EU Member States’ trade promotion organisations under the “Team Europe” approach.
If you are:
- an EU or a Japanese company,
- with proven experience and/or a concrete project targeting the ASEAN, African and/or Latin American market(s),
Looking for:
- Business / commercial / technology partners, buyers or investors to undertake a project in the above three regions,
the EJ3A helpdesk can support you in your search of partners and information.
While many companies involved in such business cooperation are rather large companies, the EU-Japan Centre also supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with the help of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), to take part in the EJ3A helpdesk’s actions.
WHAT IS EU-JAPAN BUSINESS COOPERATION IN AND WITH ASEAN, AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA?
EU-Japan business cooperation in and with ASEAN, Africa and Latin America can be defined as EU and Japanese companies partnering on a project in one of the above regions, and often in partnership with local companies and public entities. These partnerships can take various forms such as joint ventures, consortia, investment, acquisition or contractor/supplier agreements. Such collaboration can also be referred to as trilateral business cooperation (e.g. Africa-EU-Japan trilateral business cooperation).
Business case studies
To concretely illustrate this type of business cooperation, the EU-Japan Centre compiled business case studies between EU and Japanese companies in Southeast Asia and Africa. The EU-Japan Centre gathered these case studies by monitoring EU and Japanese companies’ activities in Africa (e.g. news articles, press releases and other public sources) and by meeting some of them to gain a deeper understanding of these partnerships.
Business case studies in Africa – available here.
Business case studies in Southeast Asia – available here.
For a quick overview, please check our mapping here.
EVENTS
Join our upcoming events and read the reports of past events below.
Until now, the EU-Japan Centre has supported the connection between EU and Japanese companies in and with ASEAN and Africa through various events. Actions with Latin America will start at a later stage.
Ongoing and upcoming events
There is no upcoming event for the time being.
Past events
27 February to 1 March 2024
The profiles of the companies selected for this mission are available here.
The business mission is organised every year by the EU-Japan Centre for EU small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and industrial clusters. The business mission took place at the Smart Energy Week in Tokyo. As an additional component of the business mission, the EU-Japan Centre also offered to support EU companies looking for Japanese business partners for projects outside Japan (e.g. ASEAN, Africa and Latin America).
More information here.
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19 October 2023: Conference, Individual Meetings with Financing Organisations and Networking (hybrid in Tokyo and online)
The event was organised by the Delegation of the European Union to Japan, the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation and the EU-Japan Connectivity Partnership Programme.
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EU-Japan Business Matchmaking with Vietnam
The one-year matchmaking platform is now closed. It ended in March 2023.
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17 February 2023: Pitching and Networking (hybrid in Tokyo and online)
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Business Mission: "EU-Japan Green Business Cooperation with Vietnam"
16 November 2022: Online Pitching - Recording available here.
28 to 30 November 2022: Business mission at the Green Economy Forum & Exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
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TICAD 8 Official Side Event "Africa-Japan-EU Trilateral Business Cooperation" (webinar)
Recording available here.
31 August 2022
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EU-Japan Business Matchmaking with Vietnam – Kick-off event
Event report available here.
7 to 9 March 2022
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Event report available here.
14 to 18 February 2022
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3rd Japan-Africa Business Forum (JABF 2021)
Event report available here.
29 June to 16 July 2021
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Conference “EU-Japan business collaborations in third markets”
Event report available here.
3 December 2019
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EU-Japan Business Round Table (BRT)
- 7 November 2023 – Details available here.
- 15 November 2022 – Details available here.
- 4 November 2021 – Agenda available here.
- 5 November 2020 – Agenda available here.
- 15 May 2019 – Agenda available here.
STUDIES AND OTHER RELATED INFORMATION
Various studies on the topic of EU-Japan business cooperation in and with ASEAN, Africa and Latin America have been conducted in recent years. Learn more about business opportunities and case studies with the below resources.
- Study “Analysis of EU-Japan business cooperation in third countries”, EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation, 2020.
- The French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan organised the French Japanese Business Summit 2020 on the topic of “Growth opportunities in Africa: towards new partnerships”.
- Study “EU-Japan business cooperation in third markets – Focus on the digital economy”, EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation, 2021.
- Article "EU-Japan Business Collaboration in and with ASEAN, African and Latin American countries" published in the 50th Anniversary Magazine of the Portugal-Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (p.20-21).
- Survey "Business cooperation between Japanese and EU companies in third markets" (in Japanese), Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), 2022.
- The annual report “Economic outlook – German Business in Japan” published by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan (AHK Japan) includes a chapter about “Business in third markets”. This chapter presents key numbers about business cooperation between German and Japanese companies outside Germany and Japan. Read the reports here.
POLICY AND FINANCIAL FRAMEWORKS
Several agreements and memoranda of understanding have been signed between the EU and Japan to help foster EU-Japan business cooperation in and with ASEAN, Africa and Latin America. Most actions related to these agreements are still in preparation.
- Partnership on sustainable connectivity and quality infrastructure between the European Union and Japan, 2019. Available here.
- Global Gateway, a European strategy to boost smart, clean and secure links in the digital, energy and transport sectors. Through this strategy, the EU plans major investments in infrastructure development around the world.
- Memorandum of Understanding between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), 2018. More info here. The two banks expanded the MoU in 2021 to target new areas of cooperation. More info here.
- Memorandum of Understanding between the EIB and the Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) in 2018. More info here.
- Memorandum of Understanding between the EIB and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), 2019. More info here. The two institutions renewed the MoU in March 2023. More info here.
- Memorandum of Understanding between the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and NEXI in 2020. More info here. The MoU was amended in February 2024 to enhance cooperation including in Ukraine. More info here.
