Event report

On 7 May 2021, the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT) hosted an online roundtable discussion with the title EU – Japan Economic Partnership Agreement: What are the benefits for the Visegrad Countries? Professor Hitoshi Suzuki, COO of LLC future mobiliTy research, Professor Eliza Przeździecka, Director of Institute of International Economics at the Warsaw School of Economics and Ms. Katalin Völgyi, PhD, associate professor at Széchenyi István University were participating as panellists. The event was moderated by Péter Goreczky, Program Manager and Senior Analyst of the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade. Professor Suzuki emphasized that the Agreement concluded by the EU and Japan had proved to be fruitful for both sides. He stressed that Polish and Hungarian food products represented high added value, however they were not really well-known among Japanese consumers. Therefore, more promotion is needed to boost sales levels. On the other hand, Japanese businessmen are increasingly aware of the opportunities offered by the growing Polish and Hungarian markets. In her presentation Professor Przeździecka pointed at that the agreement had resulted in an increase of USD 135 million in the Polish export. Through the so-called CGE-model it has been proved that primarily meat and animal products, leather and processed food were well positioned to notify a substantial increase in export levels. At the same time, a decrease in the production can be expected in some sectors. Ms. Katalin Völgyi underlined that the majority of trade with Japan had been dominated by Japanese affiliates operating in Hungary. These companies can no doubt benefit from tariff reductions, especially in the automotive industry. She pointed at that among the Hungarian exporters wine and meat product producers could be the main beneficiaries of the agreement.