(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

The Cabinet, at its weekly meeting (Sunday, 4 January 2015), approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposed plan to strengthen economic links and cooperation with Japan. The plan constitutes a roadmap for various government ministries regarding a focused effort to strengthen economic links by investing tens of millions of shekels over three years. The plan is based on identifying areas of interest common to both countries and is designed - inter alia - to enable the full utilization of the latent economic potential for the Israeli economy.

Economy Ministry - Opening a trade office in Osaka, in addition to the trade office in Tokyo; increasing the number of commercial attaches in Tokyo; strengthening business activity in Japan; branding doing business with Israel in Japan; increasing Israeli companies' exposure to Japanese firms and vice-versa; expanding the Economy Ministry Chief Scientist's activity in Japan; enlarging the India-China Fund so as to include Japan.
 
Finance Ministry - Advancing negotiations on a bilateral agreement to encourage and protect investments.
 
Science, Technology and Space Ministry - Increasing joint research grants by 50% in 2015; increasing space cooperation; strengthening ties between Israeli and Japanese researchers.
 
Foreign Ministry - Advancing plans for a visit by 500 young leaders from Japan to Israel over three years. The young leaders will be in Israel for approximately one week during which they will be exposed to various aspects of the economy, culture, administration and life in Israel.
 
Tourism Ministry - Plan to increase the number of Japanese tourists by 45% by 2017.
 
Transportation and Road Safety Ministry - Increasing cooperation in various transportation technologies and infrastructures with emphasis on public transportation; transportation research and development.
 
In addition, the government will advance plans for bilateral cooperation by the ministries of Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, Culture and Sports, as well as promoting alternative fuels.
 
Israel and Japan have become significantly closer in the past year. In this context, there has been an increase in the frequency of official visits between the two countries. Prime Minister Netanyahu visited Japan this past May as a guest of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Since the visit, there has been an increase in Japanese interest in cooperation with - and investments in - Israel which is finding expression in the arrival in Israel of parliamentary, government and economic delegations. Last November, Prime Minister's Office Director General Harel Locker led an economic delegation to Japan consisting of economic leaders as well as government, and academic and economic organizations. In July 2014, the Japanese Economy Minister led a delegation of industrialists to Israel.

Although the Japanese economy is the third largest economy in the world (after China and the US) with a 2013 GDP of approximately $4.7 trillion. Israeli exports to Japan have been stagnant in recent years and amounted to approximately $720 million in 2013, constituting only around 1.3% of overall Israeli commercial exports.

Deepening trade ties with Japan contains several advantages for the Israeli economy. Boosting exports to Japan is an important goal in and of itself but also serves an additional goal - expanding the geographic scope of Israeli exports by helping additional Israeli companies to penetrate the Japanese market, with an emphasis on small- and medium-sized businesses. There is demand in Japan for Israel technologies and know-how which have yet to realize their market potential, particularly in the fields of pharmacology and medical equipment, cyber and information security, agricultural technology, and green energy and the motor vehicle market.
 
Opening a trade office in Osaka will promote broader access to local industry in the Kansai region, where many of Japan's and the world's largest companies are located. The region has high commercial potential for Israeli companies vis-à-vis cooperation with Japanese firms and in terms of exports.