Monthly Japanese Industry and Policy News February 2024 Issue Available Now

The EU-Japan Centre’s office in Tokyo is regularly publishing "Industry and Policy News”. By screening various Japanese language sources of potential interest, including newly released policy documents, surveys, and official statements, this newsletter aims to provide information in the context of EU-Japan industrial cooperation. The topics of the February 2024 issue are as follows.

The Centre is also publishing on a weekly basis. The weekly releases are available on the following website with a new issue every Friday https://www.eu-japan.eu/news.                                                                                                    

This news was compiled by “Weekly Japanese Industry and Policy News”.

Monthly Japanese Industry and Policy News 
February (February 2 – February 29) 2024

- This was compiled by “Weekly Japanese Industrial and Policy News”.

Legislation and Policy News
-    METI provides Google Cloud free of charge to generative AI development companies
-    METI contributes JP￥45 billion to cutting-edge semiconductors
-    Establishment of a specialized organization to examine the safety of AI
-    6-month residence status for digital nomads
-    Azure adopted as computational resource for domestic LLM development project “GENIAC”
-    Japan-Ukraine economic recovery promotion meeting held in Tokyo
-    TSMC Kumamoto 2nd Factory will receive up to JP￥732 billion in subsidy 

Survey and Business Data
-    124 Japanese companies, including Kao, rated the highest in terms of environmental friendliness

Company & Organization News
-    Nippon Steel confirms 33% reduction in blast furnace CO2 emissions using hydrogen reduction technology
-    Chubu Electric Power invests directly in Dutch offshore wind power company
-    Kioxia announces investment in mass production of advanced memory
-    Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and JX Oil Exploration collaborate to build CCS value chain between Japan and Australia
-    Germany's H2 Global Foundation signs memorandum of understanding on clean hydrogen with JOGMEC and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government
-    JOGMEC signs a memorandum of cooperation with Brazil's Minas Gerais Economic Development Authority (SEDE) and Development Promotion Corporation (Invest Minas)
-    Renesas acquires US semiconductor software development company for JP￥889 billion
-    Toyota and Chiyoda Corporation to jointly develop world's smallest water electrolysis system
-    Panasonic Energy procures graphite for EV battery material from Australia
-    Toyota Tsusho supports decarbonization of Kenya
-    JAXA, H3 rocket launch successful
-    Marubeni to produce recycled aviation fuel from household waste in Dubai
-    Mitsubishi Chemical develops biodegradable resin with more than 60% biomass and turns it into soil in 31 weeks
-    Idemitsu, ENEOS, Hokuden, one of the largest hydrogen production bases in Japan in Hokkaido
-    Five electric power companies transfer plutonium in France to Kyushu Electric and Shikoku Electric
-    SoftBank Group and Saudi government-affiliated company manufacturing industrial robots
-    Chubu Electric Power and others create a roadmap for zero fossil fuels in the Galapagos Islands
-    Kawasaki Heavy Industries and French company partner to develop fuel cells for construction machinery
-    Idemitsu, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Swiss companies produce ammonia in North America
-    Kajima invests in Canadian geothermal power generation startup
-    Rakuten Symphony and Ukrainian telecommunications carrier “Kyivstar” reach basic agreement on implementation of Open RAN
-    Rapidus partners with Canadian company to manufacture AI semiconductors
-    Itochu investigates synthetic fuel production in Australia
-    Tokyu Land and Renewable Japan jointly acquire Spain's Valdecaretas solar power plant