U.S.-Japan Dialogue to Promote Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Job Creation

May 27, 2010

Innovation and entrepreneurship are fundamental to ensuring sustainable global economic growth and inclusive prosperity. In the current economic environment, the United States and Japan share the task of finding ways to establish conditions conducive to entrepreneurial job creation and the flow of cross-border investment so that new businesses can thrive and contribute to our mutual prosperity.

The U.S.-Japan Dialogue to Promote Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Job Creation convened its first meeting at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on May 27, 2010. METI Senior Vice Minister Teruhiko Mashiko and U.S. Ambassador John V. Roos opened the dialogue. Co-chaired by Hidehiko Nishiyama, Director General for Trade Policy, METI and Kurt Tong, U.S. Senior APEC official, U.S. Department of State, the proceedings featured a morning session where private-sector experts provided their perspective on a broad range of issues relating to the environment for new businesses and the possibilities to improve that environment through bilateral cooperation. During the afternoon session, interagency delegations from each side considered how to address the issues raised by private-sector participants and possible next steps. The remarks by METI SVM Mashiko and Ambassador Roos are posted on the METI and U.S. Embassy websites.

Japan and the United States are committed to work together bilaterally and in multilateral fora such as APEC to ensure that our citizens and economies are able to enjoy a prosperous future in a world economy whose shape is rapidly changing.