The organizers are hosting an academic roundtable bringing together leading European and Japanese researchers and scholars to discuss the current state and prospects of Japan’s foreign economic policy (‘keizai gaikô’).
The roundtable aims at strengthening European-Japanese academic exchange and co-operation. Given the topical character of the roundtable’s contents, it will contribute to the understanding of modern Japan in general and of its foreign and foreign economic policies in particular.
Amongst others, it is envisioned to analyse the following questions and issues:
· Will Japan in the coming years re-adjust and re-define its regional foreign economic policies strategies in view of China’s economic development and growing capabilities to provide the region’s developing economies with the support Japan provided these countries with over the last decades?
· What priority will Japan’s keizai gaikô have in the current government?
· How important can Japan’s foreign economic policies be re-establishing a regional economic leadership role?
Furthermore, it will be sought (in one session at the beginning of the roundtable) to give an overview of Japan’s political and economic relations with selected countries in Asia.
It is also envisioned to invite representatives from European and Japanese governments to present them with policy recommendations developed during the roundtable discussions.
Finally it is planned to hold a public forum at the end of the second day of the roundtable inviting interested parties in Milan as well as the representatives of the Japanese and European media stationed in Milan.