Carlos Cuerpo travels to Japan to strengthen economic and trade ties and to foster cooperation in key areas

During the visit, the minister will lead a delegation of Spanish entrepreneurs in the celebration of the first enterprise roadshow in Japan, an initiative aimed at facilitating the entry of Spanish start-ups into the Japanese ecosystem.

Organised by ICEX Spain Export and Investment, the meeting seeks to connect emerging companies in the growth phase (scaleups) with public and private investors in the Asian country, in addition to defending Spain's increasingly prominent role at the forefront of technological and innovative entrepreneurship.

"Numerous Spanish SMEs and entrepreneurs are making inroads into Japan, conquering market niches thanks to innovation and excellence. Today more than ever, in an international context of uncertainty and change, we must take advantage of our mutual trust as partners to strengthen our ties and redouble the benefits that derive from this," said Carlos Cuerpo.

The two-day visit aims to strengthen institutional relations and foster cooperation in key areas such as clean energy, digitalisation and innovation, where there is much interest from the Japanese private sector.

The delegation is made up of ICEX CEO Elisa Carbonell and Cofides President Ángela Pérez, as well as representatives of Spanish start-ups.

The visit, which will begin its agenda tomorrow Thursday, also seeks to approach the Japanese private sector, with the aim of supporting the internationalisation of Spanish companies in the Japanese market and attracting Japanese investment to Spain.

In 2024, bilateral trade between Spain and Japan reached a record 7.8 billion euros after a decade of steady growth in both goods and services. The agri-food sector accounts for 45% of Spanish exports to Japan and has doubled its weight in the last decade. Within this sector, meat products (mainly pork) stand out, followed by olive oil and wine.

In addition, on 1 January 2025, the EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement came into force. This agreement will guide future collaboration between the parties and ensure closer political and economic cooperation on a range of bilateral, regional and multilateral issues.

Economic Dialogue and visit to the World Expo

As part of the intense institutional agenda, the minister plans to meet with several Japanese economic authorities, including the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Yoji Muto, and the President of the Japan Investment Corporation, Keisuke Yokoo, to promote collaboration on matters of common interest and exchange positions on issues on the global economic and trade agenda.

Japan is the main Asian investor in Spain with 9.9 billion euros invested between 2010 and 2024. Currently, Japan is the twelfth largest investor in Spain, with an accumulated stock of more than 14.4 billion euros in 2024, through more than 600 Japanese companies established in our country, operating in a wide range of sectors such as the chemical industry, automotive, energy or information technologies, and the upward trend continues.

In order to reinforce mutual commercial benefits and explore new formulas to take advantage of complementary capacities, a Spain-Japan Economic Dialogue has also been organised, which will be inaugurated by Minister Cuerpo together with his Japanese counterpart.

The aim of this meeting will be to assess the state of bilateral trade and investment flows, identify specific areas of cooperation and strengthen economic security as a central pillar of the partnership between the two countries.

The minister will conclude his visit on Friday with a tour of the Spanish and Japanese pavilions at the Osaka 2025 Expo, showing Spain's support for the World Expo.

Non official translation