Japan set to sign historic defence pact with UK, as PM Fumio Kishida woos business leaders in London

A new defence pact in the Pacific and post-Brexit trade are high on the agenda, as Japan’s prime minister meets his UK counterpart today.

Fumio Kishida and Boris Johnson are set to sign off on an agreement which allows British and Japanese forces to deploy together, against the backdrop of war in Ukraine.

The deal would be the first Japan has signed with a Euroepean country, in wake of the UK’s “tilt” towards the Indo-Pacific region in a review last year.

Ahead of the meeting, which will take place at Downing Street later today and include an RAF flypast, PM Johnson said: “As two great island democracies, and the third and fifth largest economies in the world, the UK and Japan are focussed on driving growth, creating highly skilled jobs and ensuring we remain technology superpowers.”

“The visit of Prime Minister Kishida will accelerate our close defence relationship and build on our trade partnership to boost major infrastructure projects across the country”.

In October 2020, the UK and Japan, which are both members of the G7, signed a post-Brexit trade deal.

Last night, addressing business leaders at Guildhall in central London, Kishida heralded Japan’s new economic approach, saying his country is now a “powerhouse” investors could invest in.

He acknowledged he country may be impacted by rising problems, including food and energy price rises, as-well-as the fall of Japan’s currency to a two decade low against the backdrop of coronavirus, which limits Japan’s benefit from tourism.

On Thursday, the country’s minister of economy, trade, and industry, Koichi Hagiuda, spoke about the “difficulty” of weaning itself off Russian energy.