Japanese and U.S. business leaders concluded their two-day annual meeting on October 4. As part of the culmination, they jointly released a statement urging their respective authorities to prioritise investment so as to enhance supply chains when it came to critical goods like semiconductors and technologies.
The business leaders, in a joint statement that was adopted at the 60th Japan-U.S. Business Conference in Tokyo, asked the two governments to enhance their collaboration with Southeast Asian countries so as to achieve a free as well as an open Indo-Pacific region.
The leaders openly voiced their support for the United States’ coming back to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement. That said, they also acknowledged that achieving this objective is going to be nothing short of politically challenging.
The Japanese as well as U.S. governments have been requested to make use of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) to advance the aspirations of both nations. It is worth noting that both Japan and the US are among the 14 member states of the IPEF.
Chairman Jun Sawada, who happened to co-chair the conference of the Japan-U.S. Business Council, told reporters that the private form of the “Quad” grouping, which consists of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, went on to have its inaugural discussions.
Sawada, who also happens to be the chairman of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, stressed on the significance of Japan and the United States showcasing authority by working in tandem with their Quad and IPEF counterparts, as well as the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He went on to suggest that they must work out practical strategies for enhancing supply chains for semiconductors as well as rare earth elements.