Newsletter January 27
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We hope you are staying virus-free and motivated!
EVENTS
-Unfortunately the current corona situation is forcing us to cancel our New Year party on February 3rd.
We hope to organize a spring party instead, we will keep you posted.
-In return we have set up our next online “Meet the BLCCJ Members” where 3 new members Julien Hora (Factorize), Pierre Masai (Toyota Systems) and Adrien Caron (RealCRO) will present themselves
Monday 7 February, 18:30-19:30 @ Zoom – sign up now!
-As of now, the inter-chamber ski race event is still on for February 12.
For more information, please visit the event website or contact the Austrian Chamber (main organizer).
MEMBERS
-We hereby inform you that individual members Bernard de le Court, Laurent Swinnen and Hidenori Tsutsui have accepted to continue as BLCCJ Advisors to the Board 2022-2023.
Also the Belgian and Luxembourg Embassies and regional trade offices have each 1 representative on the BLCCJ Board.
For an overview of our advisors, we gladly refer you to our online directory.
-Upgrade to flagship:
BLCCJ corporate member Safran Helicopter Engines Japan has upgraded to BLCCJ Silver Flagship Member, thereby becoming the newest flagship in a select group of 8:
Platinum: BNP Paribas / Godiva / Puratos / UCB
Gold: Solvay
Silver: AB InBev / Barco / Safran
-New individual member:
We gladly welcome Ms. Suzu Yamamoto, Thomson Reuters Japan, to the BLCCJ community. We hope to be able to introduce her to all of you soon!
-BLCCJ corporate member Sofico Services Japan made the Japanese press with development of their automotive leasing app “MilesGo”:
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/r
OTHER
-After Mr. Pierre Gramegna resigned as Luxembourg’s Finance Minister, he was succeeded by Mrs. Yuriko Backes as of January 5, 2022. She is Luxembourg’s first female finance minister, and has a strong connection with Japan:
https://delano.lu/article/
–Conrad Tokyo has shared a special limited time offer for BLCCJ members to enjoy a stay at the stylish hotel: City Room incl. breakfast with several benefits at a reasonable price.
For more details, please refer to the attachments.
–MIPRO Startup Seminar “Basics of Contracts and Experience sharing” on Tuesday 15 February, 14:00-16:00 @ Zoom
For details and to sign up, please visit the website.
NEWS HEADLINES
Finally, here are some news headlines of the past days:
–Shared by the Belgian Embassy (from Nikkei, 22 January 2022)
Largest import value at Narita airport, 25% up from last year
According to a trade overview of Narita Airport in 2021 by Tokyo Customs, imports increased 25% to a record of 16 trillion 74 billion yen. Among the major import items, pharmaceutical products increased by 47%. The increase in the number of vaccinations for the new corona virus in Japan is seen as a major factor, and imports increased mainly from Belgium.
https://www.nikkei.com/
https://www.customs.go.jp/
-IMF cuts global growth forecast for 2022 (NHK World – Japan, Jan. 26)
-Omicron dents 2021 global air travel recovery (NHK World – Japan, Jan. 26)
-Japan’s largest business lobby calls for lifting foreigner entry ban (Kyodo News, Jan. 24)
-Hong Kong may maintain COVID isolation until 2024, risking exodus–Euro chamber (The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 26)
-Japan posts record $5.7 tril. negative net worth (NHK World – Japan, Jan. 26)
-Bank of Japan members see inflation moving toward 2% target, wage growth key (Mainichi Japan, Jan. 26)
-Average condo price in Tokyo area hits record high in 2021 (Kyodo News, Jan. 25)
-Japan’s daily COVID-19 cases top 70,000 for 1st time (Kyodo News, Jan. 27)
-Details of quasi-emergency for 18 more prefectures (NHK world – Japan, Jan. 26)
-Japan’s booster vaccination rate at around 20% (NHK World – Japan, Jan. 26)
To end on a positive note: this week several Valentine chocolate fairs will launch at department stores across Japan, including many delicious Belgian brands!
Please take good care.
The BLCCJ office