Germany, Japan pledge to increase cooperation on financial safety – POLITICO

Germany and Japan agreed on Saturday to strengthen cooperation on financial safety in the aftermath of tensions more than international provide chains and the financial influence of the war in Ukraine.

In the initial higher-ministerial government consultations held among the two nations, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reached out to Tokyo to seek to lower Germany’s dependence on China for imports of raw components.

“The present challenges of our time make it clear: It is critical to expand cooperation with close partners and obtain new partners. We want to lower dependencies and boost the resilience of our economies.” the German chancellor stated in a tweet.

Scholz and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated they think the agreement will permit each nations to diversify worth chains in order to be capable to lower financial dangers.

In a joint statement, the two nations stated they will function on establishing “a legal framework for bilateral defense and safety cooperation activities,” like techniques to safeguard essential infrastructures, trade routes and to safe future provide of sustainable power.

Germany’s choice to prioritize consultations with Japan came following the Asian nation place forward an financial safety bill final year aimed at securing the uptake of technologies and bolstering essential provide chains. 

Japan is Germany’s second-biggest trading companion in Asia following China, with a bilateral trade volume of €45.7 billion mostly primarily based on the import and export of machinery, autos, electronics and chemical goods.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the predicament in Ukraine, cooperation in the Indo-Pacific area and the G7 meeting in Hiroshima scheduled for May well.