Canada must act now to capture opportunities in Japan

The Canada-Japan relationship holds great potential, but business and government could be more proactive in deepening economic ties, a new report by McKinsey & Company finds.

Canada and Japan have a longstanding commercial relationship with many complementary sectors and industries. However, despite these existing advantages, the trade relationship has not reached its full potential.

The report – “Strengthening the partnership between Canada and Japan” – suggests ways business and government could work together to increase trade and investment. As Japan executes a new growth strategy and Canada builds its presence in Asia, there is a tremendous opportunity to increase economic activity between the two countries, particularly given the recently concluded Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

The report highlights how stronger relations between Canada and Japan could hold huge potential for a number of sectors, including energy, agriculture and agri-food, manufacturing, institutional investing, infrastructure, healthcare and retail. It also emphasizes that Canada could play an important role in meeting Japan’s energy security needs, contingent on building the necessary transportation infrastructure to deliver Canadian LNG to Asia...

This has been excerpted from 21 March 2016 article by the Business Council of Canada.