Market access workshops on the rise

In its ongoing efforts to help European SMEs to access the Japanese market, the EU-Japan Centre has organized on a regular basis since 2015 various market access workshops to explain the specificities of doing business in Japan, focusing on cultural aspects and certain industrial sectors. These workshops are organized within the framework of the Centre’s activities as a member of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN).

The EU-Japan Centre is pleased to report the successful conclusion of four more online workshops since our December issue. We organized three cultural workshops on Japanese Business Culture, one with Klaipeda Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts (Lithuania), another with ALMI Företagspartner Skåne AB (Sweden), and a third hybrid cultural workshop co-organized with two partners - Podlaska Regional Development Foundation (Poland), and Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic. In addition, we had the pleasure to partner with the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia on a workshop about the ICT sector in Japan.

This year, due to the many Member States’ delegations, both at a national and regional level, planned to benefit from the World Expo 2025 held in Osaka, the demand for the Centre’s Market Access Workshops is high. In this case, the workshops are intended as pre-mission briefings, preparing companies to meet with potential Japanese partners face-to-face and take advantage of business opportunities in their sector. Some workshops will be part of bigger events focused on presenting Japan, while others will have Member State authorities joining to express support and present opportunities funded by their respective governments. We will have the pleasure of seeing companies in person with a few on-site workshops, but most have been limited to the online sphere. Much to look forward to!

Due to the high demand for workshops from partners, it might be difficult to follow up on ad-hoc requests until November or December 2025, but do not hesitate to contact us if you are an EU-based support organization interested in organizing an on-site or online workshop at a later date. Please contact Ms Ana Horvatin at workshops(at)eu-japan.eu with information about the sector of interest, prospective times and information about your event or mission!