Japan is once again welcoming business visitors!

The world’s 3rd largest economy has been one of the last countries to retain COVID border restrictions, but Japan is now allowing business visitors to enter the market ahead of further relaxation of restrictions later this year.

With that in mind we’ll be taking another look at doing business in Japan, covering the current economic climate, opportunities throughout a wide range of sectors and a feature on the nuances of doing business in a very different culture.

Mark Graham
In his role as Regional Director, North East Asia – Invest Northern Ireland, Mark is responsible for delivering Invest NI’s NEA strategy, supporting Northern Ireland companies and education organisations to access new markets and business opportunities to grow their exports; and to attract new foreign direct investment to Northern Ireland.

Marie-Claire Joyce
Marie-Claire is Head of Trade at the British Embassy in Tokyo, her 4th posting in Japan, and comes with a wealth of knowledge and experience of UK-Japan trade and economic policy. Her team was instrumental is negotiating and implementing the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between UK & Japan last year.

Steve Crane OBE
Steve, CEO of Business Link Japan, established his first company in Japan 20 years ago, and this experience helped identify the opportunity to support other international companies to enter this complex market. Business Link Japan was then incorporated as a vehicle to do just that. He is recognised for his tireless voluntary work to support various fields including education and political relations between the UK and Japan.

Takashi Akutsu MBE
Takashi is Vice Consul at the British Embassy Tokyo. He has been with the Embassy for over 28 years. He has many experiences on negotiating/working with Japanese public sectors, from prisons and police stations to Ministries of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Health, Labour and Welfare.