(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Monday, 15 June 2015), met with Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Yasuhide Nakayama, who is responsible for North America and Middle East affairs and who serves as Vice President of the Israel-Japan Parliamentary Friendship League (which was established by his father in the 1980s).
 
Prime Minister Netanyahu told his guest that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Israel last January had been very important and had contributed the recent period of excellent bilateral relations, and asked that he convey his greetings to the Japanese Prime Minister. Prime Minister Netanyahu added that there were many amazing opportunities for bilateral cooperation in many fields, but especially in the cyber field.
 
Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Nakayama then held a working meeting with Prime Minister's Office Director General Eli Groner and the professional teams. The two men discussed appropriate fields for investment, advancing bilateral cooperation agreements and opportunities for cooperation in the cyber field.
 
There is vast economic potential for the Israeli economy in strengthening economic relations with Japan. The Japanese economy is the third largest economy in the world (after China and the US) with a 2014 GDP of approximately $4.8 trillion. However, Israeli exports to Japan amounted to only approximately $790 million in 2014, thus constituting only approximately 0.1% of overall Japanese imports. Moreover, there is considerable cartelization in exports to Japan with approximately 9% of exporters being responsible for approximately 75% of total exports. Japan's population is 127 million people. Its annual growth rate is 1.5% and its GDP per capita is $39,000.
 
In expanding Israeli exports to Japan, there is great potential mainly in high-tech (software and hardware), cyber, HLS, security industries, health technologies, agriculture and transportation. It should be noted that Tokyo will host the 2020 Summer Olympics. This is of significant potential for Israeli companies, mainly in the fields of HLS and cyber.
 
Prime Minister Netanyahu visited Japan in May of last year; as noted above, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Israel last January, at the head of a delegation of over 100 government officials and senior corporate leaders. In January of this year, ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Abe's visit, the Cabinet approved Prime Minister Netanyahu's plan for strengthening economic ties and bilateral cooperation with Japan.