Britain’s Johnson welcomes Japanese investment despite Brexit vote
TOKYO: Japanese investment in the UK has hit a “record high” since last year’s shock Brexit vote, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said yesterday.
Johnson, a leading campaigner for Britain to quit the European Union, also pledged London will “build a fantastic relationship with our friends and partners in the EU” after talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in Tokyo.
Referring to growing regional tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, he also called on China to pressure Pyongyang to agree to fresh negotiations.
The second round of contentious talks over Britain’s exit from the political bloc ended this week, with the EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warning “fundamental” differences remained between London and Brussels – just days after Johnson told the EU to “go whistle” over a massive proposed divorce bill.
Japanese companies – including automakers Nissan, Toyota and Honda – who have long used Britain’s membership of the single market to export goods to the continent could be hit if the UK’s historic referendum vote to leave the 28-member bloc leads to higher export tariffs and other barriers after 2019.
However, Johnson said London would continue to develop “commercial and economic relations” with Japan, adding: “Japanese investments in the UK are at a record high since the Brexit vote last year.”