Newsletter March 23
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Now that the quasi state-of-emergency has been lifted, we can start planning in-person events again.
In April we will still be online but in May we have several live events lined up.
ONLINE:
-Monday 28 March: Live visit to the Luxembourg Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai
-Tuesday 12 April: Talk with BNP Paribas Fortis Chief Economist Koen De Leus
-Wednesday 13 April: Update on trade between Belgium/Luxembourg and Japan – the impact of COVID-19 (in Japanese only)
-Wednesday 27 April: Talk with the CEO of Pfizer Belgium-Luxembourg
LIVE:
-Thursday 19 May until Sunday 22 May: Belgian shop @ Belgian Beer Weekend Yokohama
We are currently looking for products to sell at the shop – please contact our office for more details.
-Friday 27 May: Golf tournament with the French and Swiss Chambers @ Tomisato GC
-Thursday 9 June: Belgian Beer and Food Academy @ Hilton Tokyo
Also an Early Summer party is in the making for May or June!
More details of all these events will go out in due time.
MEMBER NEWS and other:
–BLCCJ Board Member Christopher Gilot will relocate to Belgium for a new job, and therefore leave the BLCCJ in April. He joined the Board of Directors in 2018 and was one of the initiativetakers of the BLCCJ young professionals group, the “BLCCJ Starters”. We want to thank him for all his efforts and support over the years, and wish him all the best with the next step in his career!
-We have welcomed a new Professional member: Belgian advertising services company HappyMood, led by Sandrine Monette. She is currently based in Belgium but will relocate to Japan in summer. We look forward to introducing her to all of you!
-BLCCJ flagship member AB InBev Japan has launched a website.
-The ANA direct flight Tokyo-Brussels remains in place on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but due to a change in route, the flight time has increased to about 16 hours. For the latest information, please check the ANA website.
-After a short interruption of 10 days, Japan Post has resumed air mail (letters and packages) to Belgium. Air mail to Luxembourg was never interrupted.
However, you can expect delays due to a decrease of flights between Japan and Europe. For the latest information, please check the Japan Post website.
COVID-19 NEWS:
-The European Business Council has shared the latest rules regarding entry to Japan (as of 16 March)
-The German Chamber of Commerce has opened up its booster program to BLCCJ members as well
-One of our members kindly shared a link to a study on COVID-19 booster shots, recommending to take the opposite vaccine for the booster
-Free PCR tests are still available in Tokyo – for the details please refer to the website of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Related and other news headlines:
-Japan ends COVID-19 quasi-emergency in all 18 prefectures covered (Kyodo News, March 22)
-Japan eyes more stimulus as record budget clears parliament (The Asahi Shimbun, March 23)
-Japan land prices rebound after marking 1st fall in 6 yrs (Kyodo News, March 22)
-Japan household assets top 2,000 tril. yen for 1st time amid pandemic (Kyodo News, March 17)
-Major Japanese manufacturers offer pay hikes on COVID-19 recovery (Kyodo News, March 16)
-Japan foreign arrivals in Feb. over 99% lower than pre-pandemic level (Kyodo News, March 16)
-Japan may allow 10,000 people per day to enter country from April (Kyodo News, March 15)
-Japan to extend free COVID test period for asymptomatic people until end of June (Mainichi Japan, March 22)
We hope to see you soon in person again!
The BLCCJ office