Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Economy and Industry Minister Eli Cohen, met on Tuesday evening with Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko and discussed the booting of the economic ties between the two countries.

This is the third visit in the past four years by the Japanese minister to the Jewish state. He arrived accompanied by 150 senior Japanese businesspeople and approximately 90 representatives of major companies for a three-day visit that focused on the continuation of the cooperation and the work plan for 2019 and the Japan Israel Innovation Network (JIIN) summit.

“The Japanese Economy Minister’s visit constitutes an additional milestone in the deepening of bilateral economic relations and commercial cooperation,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated.

Netanyahu remarked at the beginning of the meeting that “there’s been a tremendous increase in Japanese investments in Israel. In the last few years, the growth of Japanese investments in Israel has been 120 times. Last time I spoke it was 44 times. It grows in astronomic rate. Actually, five billion dollars today but it is growing very rapidly.”

Netanyahu further underscored that the relationship between Israel and Japan is “a natural one.”

“Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe and I agreed that we have to upgrade the economic relations and this visit is part of that. I welcome you and your colleagues. We want to see more trade, more tourism, more investments in both directions. Welcome to Israel,” he added.

A series of agreements were signed between Israeli and Japanese companies, and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two countries in the fields of digital health, and cooperation between the countries in the fields of vehicle and cyber.

In recent years there has been a rapid warming of political and economic relations between the two countries. The prime ministers met in May 2014 and again in May 2018, the two countries sign a cooperation agreement in the field of industrial Research & Development in July 2014, and a road-map to strengthen economic links with Japan was approved by Israel in January 2015.

Israel and Japan are experiencing record-breaking trade and economic ties. The number of Japanese companies investing and operating in Israel has increased considerably in recent years. The number of Japanese companies that opened offices in Israel has grown to over 70.