A challenging market for EU SMEs ...
Opening and growing a business as an entrepreneur is a challenging task. Doing so in a foreign country like Japan is even more challenging. As a European SME, you are confronted with a different business culture, different customer preferences, specific norms and standards, administrative paperwork, language barriers, and difficulties in accessing the right business
contacts.

But an attractive one
Despite the weak yen relative to the euro, Japan's declining population and workforce, and its limited natural resources, Japan remains an attractive destination for European companies for various reasons. These include a high GDP per capita, a secure investment environment, a qualified labour force, and well-developed infrastructure, to name just a few. Japan and the EU have also signed various framework agreements, including a free trade agreement that allows almost tariff-free trade between the EU and Japan.

Your partner to start or expand your business in Japan ...
Over its 38 years of existence, the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation has developed strong expertise in the Japanese market. It has built an extensive network with local partners to offer European SMEs, in particular, the services and tools needed to facilitate the start-up or expansion of their activities in the Japanese market.

supported by the European Commission and METI
The uniqueness of the EU-Japan Centre stems from its structure: it is a joint venture between the European Commission's Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), with both institutions co-funding the EU-Japan Centre's activities. For the European side, this cooperation facilitates contact with Japanese authorities and business stakeholders.

A snapshot of the EU-Japan Centre main activities
The report you are reading summarises the main achievements of the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation over the last Japanese fiscal year (April 2024 to March 2025). It provides a snapshot of each of the Centre's key activities. These activities assist not only SMEs but also European and Japanese businesses in general, managers, specialists, students, research institutes, universities, EU Member States' business organisations, and EU-level institutions. Together, they contribute to achieving the EU-Japan Centre's mission of supporting all forms of industrial, trade, investment, research, and innovation cooperation between the European Union and Japan.

To the report