Economy Minister Amir Peretz and Japanese Economy Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama held a virtual meeting on Tuesday as part of the third annual Japanese-Israeli economic dialogue.
Peretz remarked that in recent years, Israel has seen an unprecedented amount of investments in it from Japan’s direction. $1.1 billion were invested this past year alone, a record-breaking number, bringing Japanese investments in Israel up to 11.1% of overall foreign capital entering the country in contrast to 2016, when that number was at a mere 1.8%.
He remarked that such cooperation between the land of the rising sun and the start-up nation "will march the economy of Israel forward by many years."
The two countries are currently debating how to improve their relations in digital health and cyber tech with an option of creating a free trade agreement.
Various company heads who are active at the Japan-Israel Innovation Network (JIIN) discussed how to further Japanese-Israeli joint projects in 2021. A future conference with a focus on smart cities and clean-tech is also being planned. Israel exports goods and services to Japan estimated at roughly $924m. in 2020.