European companies seeking for japanese partners, especially from the Osaka region, or planning to enter the japanese market have a new B2B platform at hand with the internet pages of ICH Indutrieanlagen Consulting und Handel GmbH.

Prices for home-use solar power systems in Japan fell from JPY 700,000 per kWh in 2007 to JPY 600,000 in 2008, according to a study by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

As part of the “Fukuda Vision”, the Japanese Prime Minister’s plan of tackling global warming and in response to rising oil prices, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has worked out a new energy policy. This envisages subsidies and tax breaks to private households as means of spreading the use of solar energy in earnest. The aim is to reduce the price for solar home systems by half in the next 3 to 5 years. A system is to be set up that obliges gas and oil suppliers to utilize bio fuels, solar heat or other new energy…

Paper from the High Representative and the European Commission to the European Council

In 2007, the Japanese Foreign Trade Organisation JETRO helped 125 foreign companies to gain a foothold in Japan. That is 10 companies more than in the year before. The largest number came from Europe (48), followed by Asia/Pacific (40) and North America (34). In a press release the JETRO points out the tendency of newcomers to settle in areas other than Tokyo.   Reference: http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/news/releases/20080526220-news

Summit talks between the European Union (EU) and Japan will be held in Tokyo on 23 April 2008. Discussions will focus on strengthening cooperation on key global challenges such as climate change and meeting the Millennium Development Goals, particularly in Africa. This meeting, ahead of the G8 from 7-9 July in Japan, will also address the situation in the WTO Doha Development Agenda negotiations, global economic prospects, and regional issues in East Asia, the Middle East, Afghanistan and Myanmar, as well as EU-Japan relations. European Commission President Jos辿 Manuel Barroso will represent the EU, together with Slovenian Prime Minister Janez…

From 2 June 2008 the EU Gateway Programme provides professional mentoring and coaching to EU companies that want to do business in Japan and Korea and offers them the possibility to participate in one-week business events in these target markets. The new phase of this business cooperation programme builds upon the experience of the Gateway to Japan Campaign which has helped about 2.500 European companies to find business partners in Japan over the last 14 years. Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner said “In the coming six years the EU Gateway Programme will support European companies…

Honda and the independent Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) have developed a production technique for cheap bioethanol. Licences for this method are to be sold in Japan but also internationally. Production sites in Southeast Asia and theUSA are supposed to utilise agricultural plant waste there as raw material. According to the Nikkei Shimbun (April 30, 2008), production and usage are scheduled to begin in 2010.

Insurance association advises school personnel The Judicial Foundation of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology created a guideline for school personnel to support children suffering from allergic diseases during school life. It`s most significant feature is to request information like severity of symptoms, cautionary advice during school hours, emergency contacts etc. from the physician in charge.It will be distributed to all schools throughout the country next month. The Ministry of Education is requesting the Foundationand the Japanese School Health Association (Tokyo, Minato) to make the guideline. The school confirms whether the child has an allergic disease through…

The 2007 report provides an update of the “Trends to 2030” published in 2003 (and updated in 2005). The new “baseline” takes into account the high energy import price environment prevailing in recent years, steady economic growth and energy / environment policies and measures implemented in the Member States up to the end of 2006. The results were derived with the PRIMES model by a consortium led by the National Technical University of Athens, supported by some more specialized models. These projections to 2030 encompass energy demand, transformation, imports and production by fuel and sector. The report also gives, in…