Exchange of MoCs with NRW.International and NRW.INVEST

October 2018

On October 16, JETRO concluded memorandums of cooperation (MoCs) with NRW.International and NRW.INVEST. The former is an organization to help companies go global in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany's largest state, and the latter is a trade promotion organization to draw investment into NRW.

The signing ceremony for the MoCs was held in the presence of the Minister of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy of the State of NRW, Andreas Pinkwart, on the occasion of his visit to Japan.

The GDP of NRW, of which the capital is Dusseldorf, is the largest in Germany, exceeding 690 billion euros. With the country’s largest inward FDI stock, the State of NRW, where 622 Japanese companies are activen*1, is a central location for Japanese investment in Central Europe. Given the conclusion of the Japan-EU EPA, the close business relationship between NRW and Japan is expected to grow for a long period of time.
*1: "Statistical Survey on the Japanese Nationals Overseas" by MOFA as of October 2017

From the Deutcher Startup Monitor 2018 published by an organization established by the German government for supporting startups, approximately 19% of German startups are located in NRW, which boasts the largest concentration in the country. There lies much potential for matching between startups of NRW and Japan through collaboration with Japanese startup ecosystems.

This is the first conclusion of an MoC with an organization within the EU for JETRO since the signing of the Japan-EU EPA last July. In his greetings, Minister Pinkwart expressed his hope that the EPA will further generate opportunities for Japanese and European companies to enter one another’s region.

By strengthening collaboration, JETRO, NRW.International and NRW.INVEST will continue promoting business ties utilizing each organization’s network, exchanging information and holding related events based on common interest.