Germany and Japan pledge to strengthen economic security cooperation – POLITICO

Germany and Japan agreed on Saturday to boost economic security cooperation following strains on global supply chains and the economic impact of the war in Ukraine.

During the first high-level government consultations held between the two countries, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reached out to Tokyo to seek to reduce Germany’s dependence on China for raw material imports.

“The current challenges of our times show this clearly: it is important to expand cooperation with close partners and to acquire new partners. We want to reduce dependencies and increase the resilience of our economies. said the German Chancellor in a Tweeter.

Scholz and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said they believe the deal will allow the two countries to diversify value chains so they can reduce economic risks.

In a joint statement, the two countries said they will work to establish “a legal framework for bilateral defense and security cooperation activities”, including ways to protect critical infrastructure, trade routes and secure future sustainable energy supplies.

Germany’s move to prioritize consultations with Japan came after the Asian country introduced an economic security bill last year aimed at ensuring technology uptake and strengthening chains essential supplies.

Japan is Germany’s second largest trading partner in Asia after China, with a bilateral trade volume of 45.7 billion euros mainly based on the import and export of machinery, vehicles, products electronics and chemicals.

The two leaders also discussed the situation in Ukraine, cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and the G7 meeting in Hiroshima scheduled for May.