Newsletter September 17

After careful consideration the Board of the BLCCJ has decided to go ahead with our annual Gala Ball, on Friday 27 November at Conrad Tokyo! Taking into account the current developments of the COVID-19 situation and following close consultations with our stakeholders, we feel it is possible and desired to start up again the organization of physical events. Even within COVID times, we believe it is important to bring people “back together”, which will be the main theme of this year’s gala. Seats will be limited, so sign up quickly! The event details will go out next week.

We also want to remind you of the event hosted by H.E. Belgian Ambassador Roxane de Bilderling: “A new start: challenges and business opportunities in the new normal”, on October 1^st, from 18:00 @ Belgian Embassy. We still have some seats left, first come first served.

We are also still taking applications for the European Joint Chamber Cocktail on October 21^st, 19:00-21:00 @ Park Hyatt Tokyo 39F; and the joint golf tournament with the French and Swiss Chambers on October 28^th @ Tomisato GC.

And our next webinar with FIT, “Venture Capital in Japan – new opportunities for foreign startups”, has been fixed for Thursday 8 October, 17:00-18:00. Speakers will be Gregory Van Bellinghen, Toppako Capital; Alex Odajima, EDGEof; and Yuin Tei, Plug and Play Japan. More details will go out soon, so stay tuned!

Finally, here are some news headlines of the past days:

-Suga becomes Japan PM, forms continuity Cabinet as Abe era ends (Kyodo News, Sept. 17)

-U.S. Fed projects near-zero rate to continue through 2023 (Kyodo News, Sept. 17)

-OECD expects softer COVID-19 damage on global growth in 2020 (Kyodo News, Sept. 16)

-Japan’s exports, imports continue to decline (NHK World – Japan, Sept. 16)

-Japan to use $15.5 bil. in reserve funds to fight pandemic (Kyodo News, Sept. 15)

-China retail sales pick up in August (NHK World – Japan, Sept. 15)

-Japan commits ¥17.2 bil to WHO’s global coronavirus vaccine program (Japan Today, Sept. 16)

-2020 global tourism expected to drop 57% amid tighter border controls (Kyodo News, Sept. 13)

-Pandemic pushes popular Narita Airport stores out of business (The Mainichi, Sept. 17)

We look forward to meeting again in person soon!
Until then take good care.

The BLCCJ office