Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to the Hamburg Reception in Tokyo.
Our delegation has been in Japan since Tuesday. In many events and meetings, we have experienced the great hospitality of our Japanese partners. Many thanks for this.
The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is closely connected to Japan.
We have a partnership with Osaka for 30 years. Mayor Matsui and I agreed on Wednesday to intensify our cooperation and to include the areas of climate protection and digitalization.
Another agreement was made between the Technical University of Hamburg and the Kyoto University to carry out joint projects in biotechnology.
In the field of life sciences, there are many connections between our large cluster organizations “Life Science North” in Hamburg and the “Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation at Kobe”.
In the development of new hydrogen and wind-energy technologies, the cluster “Renewable Energies Hamburg” works closely together with the “Energy Agency Fukushima”.
Last year, Hamburg and Kobe agreed to exchange their experiences in the fields of climate protection and zero emission engine technologies.
Japan is the world leader when it comes to the implementation and development of hydrogen technology. We in Hamburg also aim to use hydrogen in the fields of mobility, energy supply and the industrial sector.
Earlier today, I spoke about this with State Minister Kiuchi, State Minister Isozaki and the Chairman of Toyota, Mr. Uchiyamada.
We are very grateful about this open-minded exchange of experiences and ideas with our Japanese partners.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Japan is one of Germany’s most important trade partners. The port of Hamburg is Japan’s gateway to Europe.
Over 400 companies in Hamburg do business with partners in Japan, more than 80 companies operate an office here. About 100 Japanese companies can be found in Hamburg, 60 of them with European and German headquarters.
With the JEFTA Agreement between the European Union and Japan, which entered into force earlier this year, we created the largest free trade area in the world.
The agreement has high standards for the protection of the environment, the consumers and workers. This is a great perspective for our companies and the people of Japan and Europe.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Hamburg and our partners in Japan should take advantage of the opportunities offered by the JEFTA agreement.
We should intensify and expand our cooperation in future industries such as health and biotechnology, maritime logistics, aviation, energy supply and digitalization …
... and we should continue our exchange in the fields of science and culture in the mutual understanding, in the deep trust and friendship that has grown in recent decades.
I wish us all a wonderful evening at this reception with interesting conversations and many new contacts.
Thank you very much.