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Launch of UK-Japan 2008

The Rt. Hon. John Hutton MP,  Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform
British Embassy Tokyo,  05 November 2007

I'm delighted to be here today to help launch UK-Japan 2008. This exciting year of events in Japan will showcase the very best that contemporary Britain has to offer in the arts, creative industries and in science and innovation.

My job, as Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, is to help create the right conditions for UK businesses to compete and prosper. Boosting creativity and innovation are essential to that. These are areas in which the UK economy already excels.

But ensuring, we can continue to imagine and invent new and brilliant solutions in the future will increasingly depend on the strength of our international collaborations. And I believe the focus of UK-Japan 2008 on creativity, contemporary capabilities, and collaboration will help both UK and Japan to create future business successes.

The UK has a long tradition of creativity and scientific innovation. Many of mankind's most important scientific breakthroughs have been made in the UK, from Newton's theories of motion and gravity and Darwin's theory of evolution to the development of monoclonal antibodies and Dolly the Sheep.

This tradition of research excellence continues today. Our share of the world's R&D spend - at 5% - is lower than Japan's, yet the UK produces 9% of the world's scientific papers.

We have 3 of the world's top 10 universities and thriving pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. The UK has produced 74 Nobel Science Prize winners. Most recently, Martin Evans shared this year's Nobel Prize for medicine for his work on mouse stem cells.

And four UK Nobel Laureates will be visiting Japan next year as part of UK-Japan 2008.

Our Creative industries now account for more than 8% of UK GDP. They employ over 1.8 million people. The creative industry sector is growing at twice the rate of our economy as a whole.

London is UK's creative hotbed, with almost 1 in 5 working in creative industries there.

But as I said before, the future success of these sectors will be determined by how effectively we collaborate with our international partners.

Six thousand Japanese research students are now based in UK universities and research centres already. Around 150 Japanese companies are conducting R&D in the UK. We have strong research links in climate change modelling, systems biology, structural genomics and hydrogen storage.

UK creative industries not only attract the best of global talent, but also act as a creative catalyst, enabling global business to add value and stay ahead. These industries have a global focus.

Take design - where over 60% of UK design consultants have at least one international client. Many globally iconic projects and products have been led by UK-based designers. For example: the ipod, the Baby G Watch, the Nissan Dualis, even the logo for the Tokyo Metro. A Cambridge company - ARM - is responsible for designing chips found in almost every mobile phone worldwide.

I'm spending the next few days in Japan talking to both UK and Japanese experts and businesses about the potential for taking collaboration between our countries and our companies to even greater levels.

I firmly believe that by working closer together, our two countries can push the boundaries of creativity and innovation further. That’s why I'm pleased to be here today, and why the UK government is supporting UK-Japan 2008.

Many of my Ministerial colleagues will be visiting Japan next year. I hope that they will be able to support, and take part in, UK-Japan 2008. And I hope that you can support us too.

Thank you.

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