PM urges boosting economic cooperation with Japan
In ‘historic’ meeting with Japanese prime minister, Netanyahu unveils cabinet plan to capitalize on ‘great untapped potential’
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for greater economic cooperation between Japan and Israel, following a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Abe flew into Tel Aviv from Jordan to begin the final leg of a six-day tour of the Middle East aimed at promoting regional stability and peace as well as boosting economic ties.
Netanyahu termed the visit “historic,” and said the Israeli cabinet recently approved a plan to capitalize on the “great untapped potential in our relations.”
Citing European anti-Semitism as a cause for worry, he said Israel “must diversify its markets to include Japan and the other great economies of Asia. That’s why your visit here, which I believe is historic, is important for both our countries.
“We all understand that there is great untapped potential in our relations,” added Netanyahu.
As part of the Israeli efforts, Netanyahu said the government would open trade offices in Osaka, increase research grants, and take a number of other steps, including “increasing the number of commercial attachés in Japan; broadening Israeli companies’ exposure to Japanese firms and vice versa.
“We’re investing tens of millions of shekels over the next three years to strengthen the Israeli-Japanese partnership,” Netanyahu continued.
Abe, in turn, said “the economy is the one area which has the greatest potential for advancement of the bilateral relations.”
Traveling with Abe in his three-day visit to Israel is a 100-person delegation of government officials and top business executives from Japanese firms that are world leaders in their field.
It is the first visit by a Japanese prime minister to Israel in nine years.
Abe, who was reelected as premier last month, began his trip in Cairo, where he pledged $2.5 billion in humanitarian and development aid for countries affected by violent expansion of the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq and Syria.
In Israel, he is slated to hold talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin on Monday before heading to the West Bank to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday.
Earlier Sunday, Netanyahu said that a wave of anti-Semitism and “Islamization” in Europe were factors in Israel’s push to expand trade with Asia.
The Times of Israel Community.