TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen will address two business promotion seminars and deliver a speech on Irish tourism in Tokyo today on the first day of his five-day official visit to Japan.
The promotions, hosted by Enterprise Ireland, are directed at consolidating Irish and Japanese trade and research links and at promoting the food sectors.
Immediately afterwards, Mr Cowen will address a promotional lunch organised by Tourism Ireland, which is responsible for the promotion internationally of the island of Ireland as a tourist destination. The aim of the lunch is to communicate this message to the relevant travel industry contacts in Japan. Some 60 leading members of the Japanese tourism trade will be in attendance.
In the afternoon, Mr Cowen will meet senior representatives of business federation Nippon Keidanren. He will also meet senior executives of Daiwa Securities. The company has operations in Dublin and Dundalk.
Today’s official engagements will conclude with a speech at a reception at the residence of Irish Ambassador Brendan Scannell. Mr Cowen will make a presentation to companies Astellas and Alps Electric, which are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their operations in Ireland.
Mr Cowen is in Tokyo at the official invitation of the Japanese government, to mark the 50th year of diplomatic relations between the two countries. He is accompanied by Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith and by Minister of State for Trade and Commerce John McGuinness.
Later this week Mr Cowen will meet prime minister Taro Aso and pay a courtesy call to Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace. Mr Cowen will also deliver a foreign policy address at Keio University.
The invitation extended to Mr Cowen to visit the 75-year-old emperor is seen as a particular honour, given the strict code of protocol and formality that is still a strong trait of Japanese society.
The mission involves more than 70 companies from the island of Ireland and is the largest ever undertaken overseas. New initiatives, but no major jobs announcement, will be unveiled, including new partnerships between Irish and Japanese companies.
An opinion poll conducted at the weekend by media organisation Kyodo News showed the disapproval rating for the Liberal Democrat government of Mr Aso has jumped to 72 per cent, the worst approval rating for a government in eight years. Mr Aso has been prime minister since last September and his own support level has fallen from 50 per cent in November to 27 per cent. Conversely, rival Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, has seen his support levels increase from 22 per cent to 39 per cent.
Support for the government has fallen, say analysts, because of the unpopularity of some of its policies and a lack of confidence with its ability to handle the financial crisis facing Japan as a result of the global economic downturn.