Germany and Japan move together

Germany and Japan want to work more closely together on the procurement of raw materials and also on armaments issues. These are two results of the first German-Japanese government consultations, to which Chancellor Olaf Scholz flew to Tokyo with six ministers on Saturday. Among them were Finance Minister Christian Lindner, Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

Scholz and his host, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, announced the expansion of cooperation between the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources and the Japanese Organization for Oil, Gas and Metals (Jogmec). Joint investments by German and Japanese companies in raw material sources are one direction to think about, said Scholz.

Both governments also see potential in the armaments sector. Scholz spoke of cooperation in the defense industry. “It’s all something that has to do with hard facts that have to be produced,” said Scholz. Secretary of Defense became clearer Boris Pistorius in a short press interview.