As a legacy of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s transformative foreign policy, “Juntos!”, Japan’s engagement with the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region has intensified over the past decade, with Japanese companies and government agencies pursuing opportunities in a wider range of economic sectors and in support of some of the region’s most pressing development objectives. Although Japan has pursued a strategy of enhanced engagement with LAC, Japan’s activity is nevertheless focused most extensively in Mexico and South America, especially as concerns trade and investment. Japan’s presence remains relatively limited in Central America and the Caribbean, despite growing evidence of private sector engagement and a history of Japanese development assistance in both regions.
Amid mounting development needs, are there prospects for enhanced Japanese collaboration with Central American and Caribbean nations? In what sectors and countries is activity already apparent and/or likely to grow? In what ways do Japan’s aid-related and commercial interests intersect with Central American and Caribbean priorities? What investment platforms can be leveraged to facilitate enhanced Japanese business activity in these sub-regions, addressing critical sub-regional challenges such as economic growth and climate adaptation? And, might Japan and the United States cooperate in novel ways to advance engagement with Central America and the Caribbean?
Our distinguished panelists will consider these and other questions during this eighth in a series of public meetings co-organized by the Japan Association of Latin America and the Caribbean (JALAC) and the Inter-American Dialogue.
Follow the discussion on Twitter at #LACJapanUS and @The_Dialogue.
We invite participants to submit questions using the Q&A function in Zoom OR to email questions to meetings@thedialogue.org.
Please note that this event will be held primarily in English, with simultaneous interpretation into Spanish and Japanese available for those who join the event online through the RSVP.
OPENING REMARKS
MAKI KOBAYASHI
Director General, Latin America and Caribbean Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
PANELISTS
KOTA SAKAGUCHI
Director, Central America & the Caribbean Division, Japan International Cooperation Agency
MARK LOPES
Chief Operating Officer, Partnership for Central America (@lopesmark)
AYESHA CONSTABLE
National Coordinator, Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (@AyeshaConstable)
ITARU MOTOBAYASHI
Executive Vice President, Yazaki North America, Inc.
JONATHON CASEY
Chief Integration Officer, Nissha Medical Technologies
CLOSING REMARKS
AKIRA YAMADA
Special Assistant to the Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Ambassador of Japan to Brazil and Mexico
MICHAEL SHIFTER
Senior Fellow, Inter-American Dialogue (@MichaelShifter)
MODERATOR
MARGARET MYERS
Director, Asia and Latin America Program, Inter-American Dialogue (@MyersMargaret)
WITH SUPPORT FROM:
