TOKYO (Reuters): While the war in Ukraine rages on, Japan hosted Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Tokyo on Monday to talk about rebuilding his country and to offer support for Japanese companies in the form of a new bilateral tax pact.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan declared, “Japan has stood with and continues to stand with Ukraine,” during an address that opened the negotiations. He also announced the beginning of talks for an investment treaty, though no specifics were provided.
In an attempt to support Kyiv’s military campaign, Japan has committed more than $10 billion in financial assistance as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches its third year. It cannot directly support the military due to restrictions prohibiting the transfer of deadly weapons.
For the first time in nearly a decade, Japan relaxed some of its regulations governing the export of weapons in December, but it still forbids the transfer of weapons to nations engaged in hostilities.
Through a translator, Shmyhal declared that the meeting marks the beginning of a new era in relations between Japan and Ukraine and that the latter will never forget Japan’s support.
He went on to say that he hoped to see production facilities established in Ukraine by big automakers like Toyota.
During the reconstruction meeting, Kishida announced that Japan will help start-ups in the Ukrainian venture capital market, that visa regulations would be loosened, and that the government organisation JETRO would establish a new office in Kyiv.
During the conference, some fifty Japanese businesses in the fields of infrastructure, energy, and agriculture inked agreements with their Ukrainian counterparts. The deals’ overall value was not made public.
