Britain and Japan signed a comprehensive economic and technology partnership on Sunday, expected to generate more than 18 billion pounds ($24 billion) of investment, during a visit to London by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Takaichi held talks in his Downing Street office before attending a G7 summit in France starting on Monday.
In total, more than 10 trade deals were signed, including a £9 billion offshore wind farm project, which Starmer hailed as “a new era of cooperation between our two countries”.
The meeting also included a round table discussion with industry representatives from both countries.
The partnership includes a strengthening of cooperation between Rolls-Royce and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency.
The two countries also announced their intention to launch the UK-Japan Frontier Tech Partnership (FTP), a technology partnership that aims to see British research translated into scalable technology with Japanese investment in areas including AI and semiconductors.
A formal manufacturing agreement will link the British Semiconductor Center with newly founded Japanese chipmaker Rapidus.
On the defense front, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), which aims to develop a next-generation supersonic fighter jet and which Starmer said was central to the bilateral relationship.
GCAP is an international military program launched in 2022 by Britain, Italy and Japan, which aims to develop a next-generation fighter jet by 2035, replacing the Eurofighter Typhoon.
According to the UK government, total trade between the UK and Japan is currently around £140 billion.
