After a long period of stagnation the Japanese economy has shown promising signs of recovery in recent years. This has created a climate of confidence among Japanese firms, which are once again exploring investment opportunities overseas. For its wealth of natural resources —especially oil, minerals and raw materials—and its fast expanding markets and liberalization trends, LAC is once again attracting the interest of some of those companies. The recent Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Mexico and Japan, the one under study with Chile and the Tokyo Declaration signed in the context of the Japan-Central America Year have sent positive signals that major opportunities are there for enhancing Japanese FDI, ODA and trade flows with LAC. The Office in Japan used this encouraging environment to sponsor various events promoting more Japanese investment and trade with the region, and to support several ongoing regional integration initiatives taking place in LAC.

The seminar on Investment Opportunities in Central America and the Dominican Republic at the IDB's Annual Meeting in Okinawa was among the Office's first such events of the year focusing on those efforts.

The Office also organized several programs on the occasion of the visit to Japan of several heads of state and high-ranking public officials from LAC. When Brazil's President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva visited Japan in May, it supported the Embassy of Brazil in holding a seminar on Brazil's Opportunities and Investments. President Lula delivered the closing remarks at the seminar, emphasizing the growing importance that Brazil attaches to enhancement of economic ties, trade and cooperation with Japan and other Asian countries.

The Office held several outreach events during the late November visit to Japan of Paraguay's President Nicanor Duarte Frutos. The first was on the Initiative for Regional Infrastructure Integration in South America (IIRSA): Origin, Recent Developments, Prospects, and Business Opportunities. At the seminar, IIRSA President Pro Tempore and Minister of Public Works and Communications of Paraguay, Jose Alberto Alderete, and Paraguay's National IIRSA Coordinator, Roberto Salinas, explained the initiative's current state of readiness and the attractive investment opportunities open to Japanese businesspeople under IIRSA projects, particularly in transportation, energy and telecommunications, which aim to physically connect the fast-expanding markets of the twelve South American countries.

The Office also co-organized a Paraguay Business Seminar with the Japan Chamber of Commerce in Paraguay, Japan and Tokyo Chamber of Commerce, and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). Another related event was a roundtable on Paraguay's maquila industry, which took place at the Office's Public Information Center (PIC).

Other events in this area included roundtables on the Brazilian experiences with public-private partnerships (PPPs) and on infrastructure financing by Brazil's National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES), and an international presentation on Ecuador's Manta Port Expansion Project.

Also to advance the Bank's efforts for private sector development in LAC, the Office initiated and supported memoranda of understanding between the IIC and the Worldwide Uchinanchu Business Association (WUB), and between the IIC and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). WUB is a business association of Okinawan descendents made up of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). JBIC is very interested in supporting international activities of Japanese SMEs for mutual business development.

Noteworthy in addition to several events that enhanced regional integration efforts and initiatives in LAC, the Office's PIC has become the regular meeting place of a Japanese multidisciplinary study group focused on assessing MERCOSUR's progress and trade and integration prospects.