TOKYO: Japan Business Federation, commonly known as Keidanren, held the opening meeting of the G7 Business Summit (B7 Summit) on Wednesday, April 19, before the G7 Hiroshima Summit on May 19-21.

The meeting, “Achieving Sustainable Economic Growth- “Strengthening G7 Unity,” and “Promoting Cooperation with the Global South,” was attended by representatives of the G7 major economic organizations.

In his welcoming speech, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, NISHIMURA Yasutoshi, remarked on Japan’s history of innovation with the liquefaction of large quantities of natural gas and, recently, hydrogen for long-distance shipping. He also emphasized the pressing need to apply technical innovation to alleviate contemporary supply chain problems.

Nishimura, in addition, also stressed that cooperation among G7 members is paramount to the successful implementation of these innovations.

The minister spoke more particularly of the Japanese semiconductor joint venture RAPIDUS and how in cooperation with Tokyo University and US high-tech giant IBM their goal was to make quantum computing accessible to smaller and mid-sized innovators in the Japanese market and Academia.