Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with his Japanese counterpart on increasing cooperation between the UK and Japanese (a) railway, (b) automotive and (c) other transport sectors.

The Honourable Member will note that the Secretary of State for Transport, the Rt. Hon. Mark Harper has had a number of discussions this year on increasing co-operation with our international partners on a range of transport related matters. In June this year, he travelled to Japan to attend the G7 Transport Ministers Meeting alongside the transport ministers or representative of the Minister for each of the G7 countries. Whilst there, he took the opportunity to meet with the Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to discuss the challenges that both transport sector in both Japan and the UK. He also met representatives of Japanese companies investing in the UK to discuss the challenges that face the UK transport sector as we plan to improve transport for users, meet our environmental targets and support the PM’s priorities including to grow the economy. Those meetings with a range of transport companies across the rail, automotive, and maritime sectors also discussed closer trading links and cooperation. Officials at the Department for Transport continue to work closely with Japanese officials in order to share knowledge on key transport issues and increase co-operation between the two countries.