Love Letter from Brussels
Series of “For the First Time” (No.16)This time I would like to talk about several “for the first time” things. Prime Minister Michel’s First visit to Japan
One of the main points of the visit was to promote even more investments in Belgium by Japanese companies. The two guests attended the “Investment Seminar”, held under the joint auspices of JETRO and the Embassy of Belgium in Japan, where an enthusiastic plea was extended towards Japanese companies to invest more in Belgium. During the visit there were also plenty of opportunities to actively interact with Japanese companies that are already investing in Belgium, and concrete measures to improve the investment environment and the supportive stance towards the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement, currently under negotiation, were explained by the Prime Minister firsthand. At the summit meeting and dinner with Prime Minister Abe, held on May 13, many topics were covered; not only the economic relations, but also the international state of affairs and security, the 150th anniversary events and the importance of having exchanges of youth were discussed. Furthermore and above all, Prime Minister Michel proposed to hold the next “Investment Seminar”, aiming to discuss investments by Belgium companies in Japan, in Belgium next year, and invited Prime Minister Abe to attend. I found it splendid that Prime Minister Abe promised to give it his consideration in view of keeping the momentum for strengthening the relationship between the two countries towards next year which will be a very important year. By the way, it was impressive to see how Prime Minister Michel and Deputy Prime Minister Peeters put so much consideration into meeting the need of the press, and I heard that their visit was reported extensively in Belgium, even more than in Japan. Among other things was the visit to a Belgian fries shop in Japan, where the two Ministers, not being satisfied by merely eating the fries, went over to the other side of the counter and treated the members of the press to some fries. Fortunately, I also had the honor to receive fries served by the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister. Opening of the 150th Anniversary Homepage
I quite like the clip about Japan of just over 4 minutes that you see first when opening the link. It shows Japan seen through the eyes of a non-Japanese, lining up different types of Japanese scenery. And yet, even seen through Japanese eyes, I think that the Japanese ambience is captured well. On the homepage, you will find greeting words of the preparatory commission members, the procedure to become a partner for the festivities of next year and use our logo as well as next year’s event calendar. Concerning the event calendar, a lot of items have yet to be confirmed, but from now on we will add a lot of content, so please stay tuned. Brussels Flower Carpet – The First Japanese Design
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