Ahead of this year’s G7 summit, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak met with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, to sign The Hiroshima Accord. The strategic partnership, which foresees cooperation on security and innovation, was accompanied by a flurry of bilateral investment pledges from companies and the governments themselves. 

UK wins £17.7bn in capital pledges

Japanese firms committed to invest £17.7bn in the UK, Mr Sunak said in a statement on May 18. This includes trading house Marubeni Corporation’s £10bn plan to invest in clean energy projects including offshore wind in Scotland and green hydrogen projects in Wales. Real-estate specialists Mitsubishi Estate and Mitsui Fudosan intend to invest £3.5bn in London, while Sumitomo Corporation pledged fresh capital to its offshore wind projects in Suffolk and Norfolk. Sumitomo Electric Industries announced it will invest £200m in its high-voltage cable manufacturing plant planned for the Scottish Highlands.

UK’s Octopus to invest £1.5bn in Asia Pacific 

The highlight announcement from the UK private sector was Octopus Energy’s £1.5bn expansion across the Asia Pacific. On May 18, the London-headquartered firm said it will invest £300m to grow its tech innovation hub in Tokyo and plough £600m into renewable projects across the country.

The remaining £600m will be spent on solar and wind projects throughout the Asia Pacific region. The firm expects the total investment package to create 1000 jobs. 

“Japan's renewable energy market is ripe for investment. Now is the right time for British companies to step up collaboration with our Japanese partners,” said Julia Longbottom, British Ambassador to Japan, in the statement announcing the news. Japan is Octopus’s second-largest market, after the UK. 

Semiconductor plans take shape

The UK and Japanese governments agreed to launch a semiconductor partnership to collaborate on research and development (R&D) and skills exchange. The goal is to improve supply chain resilience through bilateral and international cooperation.

This agreement was followed one day later by the UK government’s release of its national semiconductor strategy. On May 19, the department for science, innovation and technology laid out its 20-year plan to strengthen the local sector. It includes £1bn in government funding over the next decade to improve R&D and infrastructure.