NRW goes Japan

"Japan is the most important strategic economic and value partner in Asia for North Rhine-Westphalia": This was made clear by Minister President Hendrik Wüst before the delegation trip of the Staatskanzlei des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen to Japan this week. Wolfram Diener , President & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, is currently on board. With its 20 world-leading trade fairs, Messe Düsseldorf offers relevant platforms for the topics of the future that are addressed during the trip. These include the challenges around sustainability, energy efficiency, industrial decarbonization, robotics and AI, and the increasingly aging society.

In the forefront of the trip, Minister President Wüst said: "North Rhine-Westphalia and Japan share common values such as democracy and the rule of law, as well as intensive efforts in important future issues such as the success of the energy turnaround on the way to climate-neutral industrial locations. The outstanding science and research landscape of both countries also offers every opportunity to further consolidate their strong position in the important fields of robotics/AI, quantum computing and hydrogen and battery cell technology. It is important to use this position and benefit from each other - socially, scientifically and economically."

In particular, Japan plays an important role for Messe Düsseldorf GmbH and Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf . Düsseldorf proudly hosts a significant number of Japanese companies, serving as their European base, while the city warmly embraces a thriving Japanese community that enriches its cultural tapestry. Messe Düsseldorf is part of this deep relationship: The trade fair company has been present on the Japanese market for almost 40 years, since 1994 even with its own subsidiary in Tokyo, 株式会社メッセ・デュッセルドルフ・ジャパン｜Messe Düsseldorf Japan Ltd. This year also Messe Düsseldorf celebrated the premiere of "Wine & Gourmet Japan – powered by ProWein " in Japan's capital, which will take place as “ProWine Tokyo” next year.

The program so far has included a visit to the The University of Tokyo , where the delegation had the opportunity to talk to PhD students from the Universities of Bonn and Tokyo. The trip also took the delegation to the Mitsubishi Corporation , the FUJIFILM Corporation and the RIKEN Institute of physical and chemical research. This is where the foundations are laid for the technologies of tomorrow.

Fujifilm, for example, offers innovative diagnostic technologies and has been a long-time exhibitor at our world's largest medical technology trade show, MEDICA - Leading International Trade Fair . Düsseldorf's Japanese partner city Chiba, which is home to numerous companies from the healthcare industry and medical technology, also regularly exhibits there.

North Rhine-Westphalia is the center of Japanese life in Germany. Almost 11,000 Japanese (one third of the Japanese population in Germany) currently live in North Rhine-Westphalia, over 7,000 of them in the Düsseldorf administrative district. More than 600 Japanese companies with around 47,000 employees are currently based in North Rhine-Westphalia – around 40 percent of all Japanese companies in Germany. More than 100 companies from North Rhine-Westphalia have subsidiaries in Japan. Messe Düsseldorf is proud to be one of them and to promote the German-Japanese friendship.