 EBC
e-News Bulletins
|
|
Please
direct queries and comments to: |
|
INTERNAL NEWS Production of EBC White Paper 2001 As you all know, we are currently preparing the EBC White Paper for the year 2001. We are facing very tight deadlines - completion of the English version, translation of the completed English version into Japanese and printing of both versions in time for a planned launch event on October 22. Although some committees had already established their priorities and prepared a draft entry earlier in the year, we were not able to make an official start on the report until late June/early July because of uncertainties over funding for the project. However, thanks to the generous support of many EBC committee members, by the end of June we received enough member pledges to provide an adequate level of funds to cover the overall cost of the project, but it has not left us with much time to complete the tasks. Given the current political environment in Japan and the level of public support for Prime Minister Koizumi and his structural reform platform, it makes good sense to push ahead with the project for an October launch - which coincides with submission of the European Commission's Deregulation requests to the Japanese government. Accordingly, we would like to request your understanding and time-sensitive cooperation with Casey Sedgman, who is managing the project within an extremely short timeframe. Launch of EBC White Paper 2001 The EBC will launch the year 2001 white paper at a luncheon event on October 22 at the Diamond Room on the 12th Floor of the Keidanren Building in Otemachi. Chairmen of key committees represented in the report will be asked to join a panel at the head table along with Ms. Hupperts and Ambassador Ove Juul Jorgensen, to make very brief comments and answer questions if required. All members of the EBC committees are urged to attend to make this a substantial newsworthy event. The goal is to have as many EBC members, Chamber Presidents and Executive Directors, EC Delegation and national European Embassy Personnel as possible along with interested members of other foreign and Japanese organizations and of course, the Japanese and foreign press. Unfortunately, we have to charge for the event to over the cost of the room and catering. The charge will be 10,000 yen/person, but will include copies of the English and Japanese white papers as well as the food and beverages. I will e-mail you all a flyer with a reply form within the next few days and urge you to mark the date in your diary and sign up to support the EBC. EBC Telecom
Carriers Committee to Hold Workshop Request From EC Delegation for EBC Member Input on GATS 2000 The EBC has been
requested by Minister Nigel Evans of the EC Delegation to provide input
into an information gathering process currently being conducted in Tokyo
for the European Commission on "GATS 2000". GATS 2000 is the
acronym referring to the worldwide negotiations that have been underway
since January 2000, specifically on SERVICES. The information
collected will be used to establish the EU's negotiating aims. The EC
Delegation wants to learn of any problems relating to instances where EU
exporters have found difficulties in exporting services (such as issuing
of licenses, denial of establishment, ownership limitations) that are
not already covered by the EU's regulatory reform proposals. For more
information on the GATS, specifically tailored to business, please refer
to the following website: http://gats-info.eu.int/ Request From EC Delegation for EBC Member Input on Deregulation The European Commission will submit its annual recommendations on deregulation to the Japanese government in October and has requested comments on last year's submission in order to update the document. We requested you all several months back to send any comments on deregulation to Ellis Mathews of the EC Delegation, but a final call is being made to ensure that responses are obtained. To facilitate the process within the next few days, I will separately e-mail all EBC members a copy of last year's submissions (priority and supplementary), which form the basis of this year's submissions. The deadline for response is September 21 and the contact for response is Ellis.Mathews@cec.eu.int Please also copy the EBC (ebc@gol.com) Nikkei Planning International Money Show in 2002 The Nihon Keizai Shimbun is planning to hold a major "International Money Show in June 2002 at the Tokyo International Forum. The show will serve a financial products fair aimed at individual and institutional investors, in a bid to get money moving in Japan. The EBC Secretariat has been asked to join the executive committee along with the ACCJ. The committee is chaired by Mr. Toyo Gyoten, President of the Institute of International Monetary Affairs, and includes Mr. Miyauchi (Chairman of the Council for Comprehensive Regulatory Reform), Professor Sakakibara of Keio University, and Mr. Tomizawa, Managing Director of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, among others. One meeting has been held already at which the general concepts were explained and discussed. I will be requesting relevant committee chairmen to accompany me to some of the future meetings, once the schedule and content of the meetings become clear. It was good to see that the EBC has been asked to join this project as part of the executive committee and not merely as an end-user. JMEC Accepting Project Applications for 8th Market Entry Competition The Japan Market Entry Competition (JMEC) is a management training program for young business people to provide them skills to succeed in doing business in Japan. It is supported by many of the Chambers of Commerce in Japan. Participants are supported throughout the program by team mentors, business consultants and the program director. JMEC is now accepting company project applications from EBC members. Companies submitting projects receive a comprehensive business plan for a fraction of the cost of hiring business consultants. The deadline for applications is November 7, 2001. Within the next few days, I will e-mail you a JMEC flyer that will provide more information about the program and the contact for applications. JETRO and IMA to Hold Symposium on Human Capital Strategy for Global Competitiveness JETRO and the
International Management Association (IMA) will hold a half-day symposium
entitled: Human Capital Strategy for Global Competitiveness, on Friday,
October 5, from 13:40 to 17:10 at the Shin-Maru Conference Square in
Marunouchi, Tokyo. Attendance will be free of charge, but registration is
required. At the symposium, Japanese and foreign executives will discuss
the "mobility of executives". For more information and for
registration to attend, please contact the IMA or JETRO: Hyogo Prefecture Holding International Economic Forum in Kobe Hyogo Prefecture
will hold an International Economic Forum in Kobe on Tuesday, September 25
and Wednesday, September 26 at the Portpia Hall of the Portpia Hotel in
Kobe. The forum will be held concurrently with an International Industrial
Fair. The theme of the forum is the creation of an Asia-Pacific regional
business hub in the Hyogo/Kobe region. The program will include special
lectures and a panel discussion in addition to industry workshops, which
will focus on medical/pharmaceutical business development and also
distribution. For more information, please contact: EBC to Start Supplying Members with General News Bulletins Starting soon on a trial basis, the EBC Secretariat will start sending all members a regular e-mail general news bulletin separately from the internal e-mail news bulletin that you have been receiving to date (in other words, in future, you will receive two types of e-mail bulletins from the EBC: 1) internal EBC news, and 2) relevant general industry/business news). The general news bulletin will contain a summary of various news items drawn from the local media and which will be relevant to the trade policy interests of the EBC. By separating the internal EBC outreach to members via an "EBC Internal e-News Bulletin" from general industry news via an "EBC General e-News Bulletin", it should be possible to maintain a more regular flow of information to the members. Within the next few days, I will e-mail you the first sample of the "EBC General e-News Bulletin." After a few editions, we will send you a form enabling you to continue or withdraw from future general e-news mail-outs. |
