January 28 – February 3, 2018, in Japan held the workshop on Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion organized by the Government of Japan for experts of GUAM Member States within GUAM-Japan cooperation. Representatives of the state institutions and private business of the GUAM countries as well as the Program Coordinator of the GUAM Secretariat took part in the workshop.

On January 29, the participants visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan where they presented and discussed the current state and governmental policy for the development of small and medium enterprises in the GUAM Member States. Also, the meetings with the representatives of the Japan Finance Corporation, the company NITTO Co., Ltd and JICA took place in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

During the workshop, the participants visited the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), the Japan Wines and Spirits Importers’ Association, the Nishijin Textile Center and Xenoma Inc. During the visit to Kyoto, the participants visited Kyoto City Hall where they met with the representatives of Kyoto prefecture and got acquainted with the measures to encourage the Kyoto industry Monozukuri.

Also in the framework of the workshop, the participants saw the sights of Tokyo and Kyoto.

The experience gained by the participants during the workshop can be used in new GUAM-Japan projects on encouraging small and medium businesses.