Denmark’s Minister for Trade and Investment, Mrs. Pia Olsen Dyhr, has agreed with her Japanese counterpart, Mr. Yukio Edano, Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, that the EU and Japan should aim at quickly finalizing the scoping of an EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement. The two Ministers agreed that it would be preferable to start negotiations on such an agreement during the Danish EU Presidency. Mrs. Olsen Dyhr met with Mr. Edano on Monday 20 February 2012 during a two-day visit to Japan.
On Tuesday 21 February 2012 Mrs. Olsen Dyhr met with Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Koichiro Gemba, where she made a similar push for an agreement.
An agreement on free trade could result in an increase of European exports to Japan of up to 29 billion Euros on a yearly basis. An agreement would also aim to strengthen EU’s strategic relations with Japan.