Mar 04 - Garcia Briefs Japanese On Politics And Economy Of Gibraltar
The Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia today briefed representatives of the Japan Local Government Centre on the political and economic affairs of Gibraltar.The Japan Local Government Centre are looking to undertake a written report on territorial issues and governance in Gibraltar for dissemination in the Japanese commercial sector.
The Centre is the London office of the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) of Japan. CLAIR was established in 1988 as a joint agency of Japan’s local authorities under the supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. In addition to representation, part of their remit in London is to research and report on territorial issues in the UK and EU with specific recourse to their members’ interests in governance and economic promotion.
Recently, they have undertaken research and reports on the Crown Dependencies and their reports (in Japanese) are circulated among their members, branches of government and public universities.
The Deputy Chief Minister highlighted the constitutional relationship between the United Kingdom and Gibraltar as well as the unique position of Gibraltar as a part of the European Union. He stressed the fact that Gibraltar was fully compliant with European Union directives and regulations and gave a brief overview of tourism, financial services, gaming and port activity as sectors of the economy in the context of using Gibraltar as a stepping stone into Europe for Japanese business.
