May 26, 2009

Investment serves a critically important role in ensuring global economic growth and prosperity. Since 2001, the Japan-U.S. Investment Initiative has worked effectively to identify and remove barriers to cross-border investment flows between our two countries.

The Japan-U.S. Investment Working Group met May 26 in Tokyo to review the efforts of the two governments over the past year to further promote foreign direct investment (FDI) in both countries. The Working Group noted a number of important achievements despite the difficult conditions in the global economy. In the past year, Japan has taken steps to improve its climate for FDI through the issuance of "the Five Recommendations" by the Experts Committee on FDI promotion. In addition, Japan revised the "Program for Acceleration of Foreign Direct Investment in Japan" to reflect these recommendations into the program in December 2008.

Both Japan and the United States have taken extraordinary steps to stabilize its financial sector after severe turmoil in global credit markets.

Investment is a powerful force linking the United States and Japan. Over the eight years of the Investment Initiative, Japan's stock of FDI has almost tripled while the U.S.' stock of FDI has increased by more 30%. Japan is the U.S.' second largest source of FDI and the U.S. is Japan's largest foreign investor. Japanese firms have invested more than $230 billion in the U.S. (*1) and U.S. firms have invested more than 5,067 billion yen in Japan (*2). This is a win-win situation for both countries, and further measures should be taken by both governments to expand mutual FDI between our two countries.

Japan and the United States remain committed to taking steps to oppose any forms of investment protectionism. We pledge to work together bilaterally, such as this dialogue, and in multilateral fora, such as the G8, the OECD, APEC and the G20, to ensure our citizens and our economies continue to enjoy the full benefits of open international investment. Especially, we recognized that the years 2010 and 2011 when Japan and the United States will take the chair of APEC, respectively, will be excellent opportunities to further promote open international investment in the Asia-Pacific region.

Source:
(*1) United States Department of Commerce
(*2) Ministry of Finance Japan