The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) will hold a seminar about the Investment Treaty and the Economy Partnership Agreement (Investment Chapters) on Tuesday, January 25.  The seminar will focus on application of the investment treaty and introduce the major contents, including examples of application and its relationship with improving the business environment, as well as the characteristics of the procedures and the consultation procedures with the government and so on.

1. The Investment treaty is an international covenant to protect Japanese enterprises that make investments overseas and their properties, to enhance transparency of foreign investment restrictions in the countries where the investments are made and to improve the investment environment.  Application of the investment treaty is spreading all over the world, and over 2,600 investment treaties have been already concluded.
2. Though investment treaties have been concluded mainly with Asian and Pacific countries so far, the government will hold negotiations for the treaty with resource-rich nations and emerging countries in the future so as to assist Japanese enterprises in making investments overseas.
3. At the seminar, essential points for application of the investment treaty will be introduced.

   Date and Time	14:00 to 17:00 (Open at 13:30) on Tuesday January 25, 2011
   Place	First to Third Communal Meeting Rooms on the 17th floor of METI main building
   Application	Fill in the application form (attached in Japanese(PDF:732KB)) and submit it via facsimile to the office below. Application over phone is also acceptable. (Free of charge; capacity: 100 persons)
   Office	Dentsu Public Relations Inc.
   Organized by	METI and Supported by Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)
   Planned program (Entire Program will be conducted in Japanese.)
   14:00	Summary of investment treaties and Japan’s approach Explained by the Economic Partnership Division, Trade Policy Bureau, METI
   5:30	Seminar for working staff in charge of foreign investment (panel discussion) Akira Kotera, Professor of Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo Shotaro Hamamoto, Professor, Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University Naoki Iguchi, Partner, Anderson, Mori & Tomotsune

January 5, 2011

Economic Partnership Division, Trade Policy Bureau