Today I will travel to Japan for meetings and engagements with business and economic leaders, investors and Japan's Minister of Finance, Satsuki Katayama.
This is all about boosting investment, bolstering fuel security and resilience, and bringing Australia and Japan closer together in uncertain times.
We're strengthening economic ties with Japan and strengthening Australia's economic security.
More trade and investment with Japan presents big opportunities for Australian businesses and workers and that will be a central focus of our engagement.
While we share many opportunities, we also face many similar challenges as a result of global uncertainty, whether it's higher energy prices driving up inflation or higher bond yields that are putting pressure on our budgets.
This visit marks the 50th anniversary of the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation initiated by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and signed by Prime Minister Miki Takeo.
Japan's Minister of Finance Katayama and I will hold the inaugural Australia‑Japan Finance Ministerial Dialogue, an annual forum for discussing investment opportunities, strategic financing and international engagement more broadly.
As part of this, we will progress an agreement to boost investment cooperation in national priority areas.
While in Japan, I will take part in around 20 separate meetings and engagements in 48 hours.
I'll engage with more than 30 CEOs and business leaders, including investors representing nearly $4 trillion AUD in assets under management, to showcase Australia as a premier investment destination.
Whether it's in critical minerals, energy, AI or industrial decarbonisation, Australia has a lot to offer and a lot to gain from more trade, more investment, and closer economic ties to Japan.
Both countries have an interest in the safety and stability of our region, and a free and fair global trading environment.
The Albanese Government has a big and broad economic agenda to boost productivity and resilience, and more investment and trade with our most trusted trading partners is an important part of that.
Engagements in Japan include:
- Ministerial Dialogue on economic security and investment cooperation with Satsuki Katayama, Minister of Finance, Japan
- Meeting with Tadashi Maeda, Chairman, Japan Bank for International Cooperation
- Meeting with Japan‑Australia Business Co‑operation Committee executives
- Keynote address to the 63rd Annual Australia‑Japan Joint Business Conference
- Meeting Akihiro Fukutome, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
- Meeting with executives from the Mitsubishi Corporation
- Meeting with executives from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
- Meeting with Austrade business delegation leaders and Japanese institutional investors and asset managers including Nissay Asset Management, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management, Asset Management One and Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management
- Meeting with Kenichi Hori, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mitsui & Co.
- Roundtable on housing supply with leading Japanese construction firms
- Meeting with Robin Khuda, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, AirTrunk
- Meeting with executives from MUFG Bank, Japan's largest bank
- Meeting with Yoshinobu Tsutsui, Chairman, Keidanren
- Meeting with Masahiro Kihara, President and Group Chief Executive Officer, Mizuho Financial Group
- Meeting with Satoshi Asahi, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nippon Life Insurance Company.
