2021 UK-Japan Business Survey

The BCCJ remains committed to our mission of strengthening trust and opportunities in bilateral business between the UK and Japan, and promoting and supporting the business interests of our members. Day-to-day, we seek to bring you closer to the people and opportunities that best support your business needs, with the help of our diverse member-to-member network and relationships with key partners.

For many reasons so far, 2021 has been an exciting year for UK-Japan relations, in particular in the Trade Policy arena. The UK-Japan Free Trade Agreement (FTA, sometimes referred to as CEPA) came into force in January 2021, and offers multiple benefits for both British and Japanese companies to collaborate and grow in a wide range of sectors. This Autumn, the Governments of the UK and Japan will launch a series of implementation committees to ensure that the FTA is on track to reach its full potential, and allow both sides to raise any exporting challenges, including market access barriers and any issues on regulatory and business environments.

The UK has also begun the process to accede to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), one of the largest free trade areas in the world, spanning Asia Pacific and the Americas and including some of the world’s biggest current and future economies.

With both of the above in mind (FTA and CPTPP), the BCCJ believes there are potential business gains to be had for BCCJ members and our wider UK-Japan business ecosystem.

Working with one of our key partners, the British Embassy Tokyo, we are now circulating a survey to all BCCJ members and various external organisations from the public and private sectors. The purpose of the survey is to enable us to understand any key challenges around the regulatory and business environment in Japan, as well as map stakeholder ambitions for business growth and ensure that, going forward, our members receive the most relevant information, guidance and support for developing their operations here in Japan.

With this, we ask that you please consider completing this

[UK-JAPAN BUSINESS SURVEY]

(Please click on the above link)

– 20 questions for companies / businesspeople operating in Japan;
– this should take around 7-9 minutes of your time

Data from this survey will be shared with the BCCJ and British Embassy Tokyo. The purpose of this survey is to gain insight into how UK Gov can best support your company’s activities and help guide trade and investment activities in 2021 and beyond. The data will be compiled and used to propel a series of sector-focused roundtable discussions led by the Embassy, and will be fed into UK-Japan implementation committee discussions starting this Autumn, 2021.

Extended deadline for submitting your opinions via the above UK-Japan Business Survey: noon on October 31, 2021

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The British Embassy Tokyo is also running a separate survey aimed at UK companies not currently operating in Japan, but with potential export ambitions. If you know of any companies that might fit this description “interested in exporting to Japan”, please do share the following survey with them.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/B95R3CZ
Deadline October 31, 2021

We thank you very much in advance for your views and support and look forward to working with you on shaping a new era for UK-Japan business relations.

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Background reading
– Trade with Japan from 1 January 2021 / CEPA HERE
– Green light for UK to start CPTPP talks HERE