"It gives me great pleasure today, to open formal trade
talks between two of the world’s largest economies; the
United Kingdom and Japan, and to do this in partnership
with my esteemed colleague His Excellency Toshimitsu
Motegi.
Japan is already Britain’s close partner in every respect
other than geography. We have a deep respect and mutual
appreciation for each other’s culture and traditions.
Our shared history stretches back for hundreds of years. On
16 May this year, we commemorated the 400th anniversary of
the death of William Adams, the Miura Anjin, the first
Englishman in Japan. He was instrumental in the negotiation
of the first UK-Japan Trade Agreement between Tokugawa
Ieyasu and King James I, in 1613. He would have recognised
a world threatened by plagues and buffeted by economic
storms, albeit not one brought together through video
conferencing.
I think he would be impressed to see how countries like
Japan and the UK are coming together now, cooperating to
keep markets flowing and trade open, and shaping the basis
of the global economic recovery.
Japan is also the largest economy of the Comprehensive and
Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
and a natural leader of that organisation. CPTPP currently
represents 13% of global GDP and would increase to more
than 16% if the UK were to join. Our Free Trade Agreement
with Japan will act as an important milestone towards the
UK’s accession to CPTPP, a goal which Japan fully supports.
We embark on these trade talks today because both of our
countries believe that the right response to the
unprecedented economic challenge posed by coronavirus is to
make international trade easier and fairer, not to retreat
into protectionism and state domination of the economy.
It was the same unshakeable support for free trade which
led Margaret Thatcher to take the UK-Japan relationship to
a new level in the 1980s when she encouraged Japanese
companies to invest here.
By the end of Mrs Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister, more
than 150 Japanese companies had set up manufacturing
operations here. They created employment opportunities in
areas where traditional coal, steel and shipbuilding
industries were in decline. From Sony in South Wales, to
Nissan in the North East of England, to Mitsubishi Electric
in Scotland, Japanese investments flourished, and helped
the UK to do so too.
The agreement we will negotiate will build on the agreement
and achievements of those times. It will see UK-Japan
trade, already £30 billion annually, rise substantially in
the years to come. It will benefit every region and nation
of the UK. It is fitting to launch these talks in the same
week that we announce our Future Tech Trade Strategy, since
the UK, as a technology superpower, intends this agreement
to set a new standard in the enabling of digital
technologies and electronic commerce.
Of course, we must, as we have agreed, build on the
existing EU-Japan agreement. But we are now free to so do
more - for example for our world-leading services
industries; for our highly innovative SMEs and for British
consumers.
We both share a desire to have this agreement in force by
the end of the Transition Period, if at all possible. So
after commencing today our teams will move quickly to
complete negotiations. Our common goal is for this
agreement to serve as the cornerstone of an even stronger
relationship between our two great island nations for many
years to come.
Thank you"
