Japan's Honda to shut UK car plant, as Brexit looms

Yahoo – AFP, Ben PERRY with Richard CARTER in Tokyo, February 19, 2019

The plant in Swindon has produced vehicles for more than 20 years (AFP Photo/Max NASH)

Honda will shut its UK plant with the loss of 3,500 jobs, the Japanese car maker announced Tuesday as the global auto industry faces "unprecedented changes" and the UK economy hits the skids on Brexit uncertainty.

The factory in Swindon, southwest England, which is Honda's only EU plant, will shut in 2021 "at the end of the current model's production lifecycle", the company said as carmakers worldwide increasingly invest in greener electric vehicles over diesel cars.

Business Secretary Greg Clark described Honda's decision as "devastating" and "a particularly bitter blow to the thousands of skilled and dedicated staff who work at the factory, their families and all of those employed in the supply chain".

Prime Minister Theresa May spoke to Honda's president to "express her disappointment at the decision," according to her Downing Street office.

Katsushi Inoue, Honda's chief officer for European regional operations, said the decision had "not been taken lightly".

The firm blamed "unprecedented changes in the global automotive industry" for the decision but it comes amid investment uncertainty in Britain ahead of the country's departure from the European Union next month.

Analysts said an EU-Japan trade agreement signed recently had likely also played a part in Honda's decision.

Clark said that while Honda's decision was made for "commercial" reasons, it was nonetheless "devastating... for Swindon and the UK".

He added in a statement: "The automotive industry is undergoing a rapid transition to new technology. The UK is one of the leaders in the development of these technologies and so it is deeply disappointing that this decision has been taken now."

Brexit clouds

Speaking earlier in Tokyo, Honda president Takahiro Hachigo told reporters: "I'd like you to understand this is not related to Brexit."

Clark later told parliament that "we must accept" Honda's stated reasons, but added "the motor industry, Japanese investors and Honda in particular have been very clear for many months that Brexit is an additional worry at a difficult time."

Swindon is heavily reliant on the Honda plant (AFP Photo/MAX NASH)

Nissan earlier this month axed plans to make its X-Trail SUV in the Brexit-backing UK city of Sunderland, citing "business reasons" but also uncertainty over Britain's EU departure.

Toyota, another Japanese car giant making vehicles in Britain, has meanwhile warned there would be no way to avoid a negative impact should the UK crash out of the EU without a deal.

The Bank of England earlier this month slashed its forecast for 2019 UK growth to 1.2 percent from 1.7 percent, blaming the downgrade on a global economic slowdown and "the fog of Brexit".

Honda's fellow Japanese firms Sony, Panasonic and Hitachi are also scaling back their UK operations.

Regarding Honda's decision, the company "seems to have been preparing for this for a long time", Seiji Sugiura, analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute, told AFP.

"Then Brexit happened, which might have pushed the company to make the decision now."

The carmaker's Swindon plant has been producing Honda's Civic model for more than 24 years, with 150,000 units rolling off the line annually.

The firm on Tuesday announced also that it would stop manufacturing the Civic model in Turkey in 2021.

'No stone unturned'

In Swindon, local finance worker Sue Davis, 49, said the town is "finished without Honda".

She told AFP: "My ex-husband works there, has done for 20 years. He's going to be without a job, so I just think it's really, really bad news."

Local MP Justin Tomlinson tweeted that the decision had been made "based on global trends and not Brexit as all European market production will consolidate in Japan in 2021".

Britain's biggest union Unite said it would campaign to keep the plant open.

"We will leave no stone unturned to keep this plant going and its workforce in employment," said Des Quinn, Unite's national officer for the automotive sector.

"While Brexit is not mentioned by the company as a reason for the announcement, we believe that the uncertainty that the Tory government has created by its inept and rigid handling of the Brexit negotiations lurks in the background."

EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

DW, 1 February 2019

Almost all tariffs on trade between the European Union and the world's third-biggest economy have been removed. European companies could save around a billion euros in duties each year.

   

A free trade agreement between Japan and the EU entered into force on February 1, covering 635 million people and almost one-third of the world's economy.

Dubbed the world's largest free trade agreement, the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement removes duties on almost all agricultural and industrial products and opens up the service sector and procurement. It also moves to eliminate non-tariff barriers to trade.

The highlights of the deal

• Japan will have scrappped duties on 97 percent of goods imported from the EU once the agreement is fully implemented.
• Open access to the Japanese market will save EU companies from paying €1 billion ($1.14 billion) of duties annually.
• The EU will eliminate tariffs on 99 percent of imports from Japan.
• In the automotive sector, the EU will eliminate duties over a seven-year transition period.
• Both sides will eliminate duties on nearly all food and agricultural products.
• The service market will be opened, including financial services, e-commerce, telecommunications and transport.
• For the first time, the trade agreement includes countries' Paris climate deal commitments.
• The text also addresses sustainable development and sets standards for labor, safety, environmental and consumer protection.

'Protecting brand names'

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said: "This agreement has it all: it scraps tariffs and contributes to the global rulebook, whilst at the same time demonstrating to the world that we both remain convinced by the benefits of open trade."

The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said: "The new agreement will give consumers greater choice and cheaper prices; it will protect great European products in Japan and vice-versa, such as the Austrian Tiroler Speck or Kobe Beef; it will give small businesses on both sides the chance to branch out to a completely new market; it will save European companies 1 billion euro in duties every year and turbo-boost the trade we already do together."

Trade groups also welcomed the move.

"This agreement is the perfect example that building bridges is better than raising walls," said Pierre Gattaz, president of BusinessEurope. "When protectionism is on the rise, the EU and Japan show to the world they remain open to modern and rules-based trade."

Hiroaki Nakanishi, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, said the agreement "will stimulate additional growth and create jobs for both sides."

Read more: Japan wants to attract more European travelers

The deal protects 'Geographical Indications' such as Cheddar, Kobe beef and
Scotch whiskey

What is the status of EU-Japan trade?

Japan is the EU’s second-largest trade partner in Asia after China. EU businesses export €58 billion in goods and €28 billion in services to Japan every year. The EU estimates exports to Japan will increase 13 percent, or €13 billion, as a result of the free trade zone.  Japan exports €69 billion in goods and €18 billion in services to the EU annually.

How did we get here and what’s next?

The EU and Japan began negotiations for a free trade agreement in 2013. The European Parliament and Japan’s parliament approved the deal last year after both sides finalized negotiations in December 2017.

EU and Japan are continuing investment protection negotiations and hope to reach an understanding as soon as possible.

EU parliament approves huge Japan trade deal

Yahoo – AFP, Clément ZAMPA, December 12, 2018

Containers sit piled on the docks as a ship sits docked at the international cargo
terminal at Tokyo's port on February 19, 2018 (AFP Photo/Kazuhiro NOGI)

Brussels (AFP) - The European Parliament on Wednesday approved an accord with Japan that has been dubbed the world's biggest trade deal, covering economies that represent a third of the world's GDP.

The agreement will go into effect in February and was celebrated as a victory for Europe as a free trade champion in the face of US President Donald Trump's protectionism and Britain's decision to leave the EU.

"Our economic partnership with Japan -– the biggest trade zone ever negotiated –- is now very close to becoming a reality," EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said.

Talking to AFP before lawmakers voted by 474 votes to 152 to back the deal, Malmstrom called it "a symbol, a signal" and added: "We're showing that for our part, we're in favour of open but regulated trade."

The deal was confirmed even as British Prime Minister Theresa May defended her faltering attempt to negotiate Britain's orderly departure from the European Union before a boisterous House of Commons.

But, ironically, some EU leaders see the wide-ranging deal they have agreed with far-off Japan as a possible model for future commercial relations with the United Kingdom, once it formally quits the bloc.

"Everything is uncertain with the United Kingdom for the moment, but one day or another we'll have to negotiate something," Malmstrom said, predicting a British deal would "go even further" than Japan's.

Covering more than 630 million people and economies that add up to around a third of global output, the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement has been under discussion since 2013.

When it goes into effect it will regulate almost all commerce between the Asian giant and the 27 remaining EU economies and, according to Malmstrom, will benefit in particular European farmers.

The pro-business lobby welcomed the deal.

"Approving the EU-Japan EPA, the European Parliament delivers on what business and citizens need in a time of political and economic uncertainty," said BusinessEurope Director General Markus Beyrer.

"This agreement is projected to increase exports between the two economies by 34 percent for the EU and 29 percent for Japan, liberalising up to 99 percent of bilateral trade," he argued.

"The elimination of tariffs will save consumers and importers one billion euro per year in the EU and will support a substantial increase of jobs, maximising benefits for both companies and citizens."

Once the is fully implemented, some 85 percent of EU farm products will be eligible for tariff free export to Japan, although in some cases this will come after a period of transition.

Customs duties on beef, for example, will be progressively reduced, and rice, a source of national pride in Japan, will be excluded from the deal.

Tokyo has also agreed to recognise more than 200 "geographic signifiers", allowing iconic European products like Roquefort cheese, Tirolean speck and Polish "Wodka" to protect their brand value.

For their part, the Japanese will win free access to the European automobile market after a multi-year transition period.

Consumer choice

In a nod to the environmental and anti-globalist groups who have lobbied against this and other EU trade agreements, it includes chapters on sustainable development and the Paris climate change accord.

This was not enough to appease at least three NGOs -- the Foundation for Man and Nature (FNH) the Veblen Institute and Foodwatch -- who denounced a deal they said was "negotiated in the shadows".

"The European Parliament agreed to a trade agreement that damages European democracy," Lena Blanken of Foodwatch said.

The deal "restricts the legislative authority of the EU and its member states, jeopardises the European precautionary principle and establishes committees without sufficient democratic control."

But Malmstrom was unrepentant.

"With or without a deal, we do trade with far off countries. That's commerce," she told AFP.

"In the end, it's consumers who decide," she said, adding that, while many might prefer to buy locally, Europe would work with Japan to reduce the environmental impact of long-distance shipments.

With the deal, the EU is seeking access to one of the world's richest markets, while Japan hopes to jump-start an economy that has struggled to find solid growth for more than a decade.

Europe, Japan sign massive free trade deal

Yahoo – AFP, 17 July 2018

The huge deal was signed as President Donald Trump unsettles allies and
provokes rivals with his aggressive "America First" trade policy

The EU and Japan signed a sweeping free trade deal Tuesday that officials called a "clear message" against protectionism, as Washington imposes controversial tariffs and threatens a trade war.

The deal signed in Tokyo by the EU's top officials and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is the biggest ever negotiated by the EU and creates a free trade zone covering nearly a third of the world's GDP.

"We are sending a clear message that we stand together against protectionism," EU Council President Donald Tusk said.

"Together we are making -- by signing this agreement -- a statement about free and fair trade, we are showing that we are stronger and better off when we work together," added Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker.

The huge deal was signed as President Donald Trump unsettles allies and provokes rivals with his aggressive "America First" trade policy.

Both the EU and Japan have been hit with new US tariffs despite their longstanding alliances with Washington.

Juncker said the deal sent a message that "trade is about more than tariffs and barriers, it is about values".

"There is no protection in protectionism," he said.

Abe, standing alongside the two EU officials, said the agreement, "shows the world the unshaken political will of Japan and the EU to lead the world as the champions of free trade at a time when protectionism has spread".

EU unveils supercomputer plan to rival China

Yahoo – AFP, January 11, 2018

China overtook the United States in numbers and performance for supercomputers in
a ranking last November, followed by Switzerland and Japan in third and fourth place

The EU unveiled plans Thursday to raise one billion euros to build superfast computers that catch up with China and others to boost Europe's economy, make medical advances and fight hacking.

China overtook the United States in numbers and performance for supercomputers in a ranking last November, followed by non-EU Switzerland and Japan in third and fourth place.

"It is a tough race and today the EU is lagging behind: we do not have any supercomputers in the world's top ten," said Andrus Ansip, the European Commisssion vice president for the digital single market.

The European Commission, the EU executive, said it would contribute around 486 million euros ($580 million) for a "High Performance Computing (EuroHPC) infrastructure", that would then be matched by EU nations.

"We want to give European researchers and companies world-leading supercomputer capacity by 2020," Ansip said in a statement.

Brussels says it will help develop artificial intelligence and applications to improve health, security and engineering, plus help forecast hurricane routes and simulate earthquakes.

European scientists and industry risk yielding secrets or sensitive information as they increasingly process data outside the EU to perform tasks in the absence of the best supercomputers, the commission said.

Japan, EU seal landmark trade deal in challenge to Trump

Yahoo – AFP, Alex PIGMAN, July 6, 2017

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker arrives at the European
Council in Brussels on July 6, 2017 (AFP Photo/Aurore BELOT)

Brussels (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and top EU officials agreed Thursday to the broad outline of a landmark trade deal, presented as a direct challenge to the protectionism championed by US President Donald Trump.

The breakthrough capped four years of talks and came on the eve of a G20 meeting in Germany at which Trump is expected to defend his "America First" stance on world trade.

"Today we agreed in principle on an Economic Partnership Agreement (with Japan), the impact of which goes far beyond our shores," European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said at a joint press conference with Abe and EU President Donald Tusk in Brussels.

The EU and Japanese economies combined account for more than a quarter of global output, making the deal one of the biggest trade pacts ever.

"We were able to demonstrate a strong political will so that the EU and Japan take the lead on free trade,", Abe said just hours before he was due to meet Trump at the G20 in Hamburg.

Cars for cheese

With the deal, the EU is seeking access to one of the world's richest markets, while Japan hopes to jump-start an economy that has struggled to find solid growth for more than a decade.

Japan is also hoping to seize an opportunity after the failure of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), torpedoed in January by Trump.

EU President Donald Tusk (left), Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (centre) 

and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels on July 6, 2017

(AFP Photo/FRANCOIS WALSCHAERTS)

The "political agreement" on the trade deal covers some of the accord's toughest aspects but leaves aside details that could still prove difficult.

At the heart of the deal is an agreement for the EU to open its market to the world-leading Japanese auto industry, with Tokyo in return scrapping barriers to EU farming products, especially dairy.

EU officials insist that the deal will be a major boon for European farmers who would gain access to a huge market that appreciates European products.

'Corporate protectionism'

Left untouched for now is the issue of controversial investment courts which have stoked opposition to trade deals in the EU nations, including Germany and France.

"After hard negotiations, the EU and Japan are sending a very positive signal to the world," said Markus J. Beyrer, Director General of BusinessEurope, a Brussels-based lobby.

"We are asking the G20 to take action against protectionism and this is a concrete example of how this could be done," he added.

Anti-free trade activists meanwhile furiously criticised the mooted deal, calling it a dangerous sop to multinationals.

"This trade deal, and others like it, smack of corporate protectionism at the expense of democracy and the environment," Greenpeace trade campaigner Kees Kodde.

Last year, the EU's giant CETA trade deal with Canada nearly sank on such concerns when the small Belgian region of Wallonia threatened to veto it, before eventually relenting.

Most opposition is centered on the investment courts, a controversial measure designed to resolve commercial disputes.

They have come under fierce opposition in Europe and the EU is trying -- so far unsuccessfully -- to persuade partners to adopt a new system staffed by public officials.

Divisions within the EU over the issue could prove significant when the EU-Japan deal faces ratification in the bloc's more than 30 regional and national parliaments.

EU officials said they hoped to implement the deal in January 2019.

Swiss vote in referendum on gradual nuclear phaseout

Swiss voters have gone to the polls in a referendum on the government's plan to move from nuclear power to renewables. Preliminary results suggest that a majority favors the plan, which critics claim is too expensive.

Deutsche Welle, 21 May 2017

Switzerland held a referendum on Sunday on the government's planned transition from the nuclear power provided by the country's aging reactors to renewable energy sources.

Provisional results suggested that a majority of voters supported the shift, with 58 percent voting in favor of the referendum. Final results are expected to be published by late afternoon.

 Most voters had already cast their ballots by post over the past weeks.

The Swiss government decided to gradually phase out nuclear power after the disaster in Fukushima, Japan, in 2011, where there were three nuclear meltdowns at a plant after a tsunami caused by an earthquake. Berlin took a similar step after the disaster by announcing the phaseout of nuclear power in Germany.

Switzerland's so-called Energy Strategy 2050, spearheaded by Energy Minister Doris Leuthard, who is also the current Swiss president, involves decommissioning Switzerland's five reactors as they reach the end of their safe operational lifespan. Currently, they produce around a third of the country's electricity.

The Fukushima disaster caused several countries, including Germany,
to rethink nuclear energy

More renewables, more efficiency

Although the plan does not lay down a clear timetable for phasing out the plants, it does envisage increasing reliance on hydraulic power and solar, wind, geothermal and biomass energy sources, as well as reducing energy consumption and improving energy efficiency.

Its targets are ambitious, with the aim being to cut the average energy consumption per person per year by 43 percent by 2035 as compared with levels in 2000.

Last year, Swiss voters rejected a call to accelerate the decommissioning of the plants, a move that would have seen three of the five reactors closing this year.

'Cold shower' claim

The government's energy strategy is supported by the Swiss parliament, with the exception of the country's largest political party, the right-wing populist Swiss People's Party (SVP), which called for Sunday's referendum.

The government says more insulation
will cut costs

The SVP has criticized the plan, saying it would cost up to 3,200 Swiss francs (2,934 euros, $3,288) per four-person household per year in additional energy costs and taxes. The government rejects the claim, estimating the additional cost per household will be at 40 Swiss francs more per year.

SVP politicians also maintain that the plan will threaten the country's energy supply, with campaign posters claiming that Swiss citizens would have to have "cold showers" despite paying more.

They have also voiced concerns that additional solar panels and wind turbines could "disfigure" the country's famous natural landscape.

Related Articles:

Japan orders shutdown of two nuclear reactors over safety fears
Japan ends nuclear shutdown sparked by Fukushima crisis

Japan court blocks restarting of two nuclear reactors

Japan pushes ahead with plans to reopen nuclear reactors
Japan prepares to mark three years since devastating quake


"Fast-Tracking" - Feb 8, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Fukushima / H-bomb nuclear pollution and a warning about nuclear  (> 20 Min)

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“... Japan

Let us talk for a moment about Japan, and then I'll close the day of messages. There are thousands of souls on my side of the veil and they're just fine, more than fine. We have spoken so often of what happens at the Wind of Birth. I told you, before they even came in, they saw the potential. I looked in their eyes. "You may not last long. You know that, don't you? You're coming into this planet and you may not be here very long. And the passing that you will have with your family will not be pleasant, if any ever are. Why would you come in anyway?" I want to tell you what they said. When a soul has the mind of God, it understands fully what generates peace and what generates energy shift. You can clearly see what generates what the planet needs the most when you are about to arrive. So they said, "We're going to be part of one of the biggest compassion events the planet has ever seen." One earthquake, one tsunami. All of those who left that day will change the earth forever. And it already has. It was the same for the last tsunami as well.

Every single one of them on my side of the veil is getting ready to come back. Many old souls were involved, and just for a moment, if they could give you any information, if they could talk to you right now, if they could speak your language and look into your eyes, they would thank you for your compassion for them and those who are left. And they would say, "Be with those family members who are still alive. Enter their hearts every day and give them peace and keep them from crying, because we're OK."

Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time.

So in closing, do you understand what you're seeing? You're seeing intelligent design, quantum energy and high consciousness. You are seeing changes in Human nature. You're seeing countries putting things together instead of separating. You are seeing those who don't want war and instead want peace, good schools for their children, safety in their streets and a say in their government. We told you it was going to happen this way. I want my partner to teach these things that I have said in his 3D lectures for awhile. Many won't be able to know these things otherwise.  …”

Mend wounds of WWII, urges Merkel in Tokyo

Chancellor Merkel has encouraged Japan to mend post-war ties with its Asian neighbors by saying Germany had "squarely" dealt with its Nazi past. Merkel is visiting Japan ahead of her hosting June's G7 summit in Bavaria.

DeutscheWelle, 9 March 2015

Angela Merkel was received in Tokyo by Emperor Akihito (pictured above) and then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday after addressing the two countries' World War Two militarism during a speech organized by the liberal-leaning Asahi newspaper.

Merkel's welcome by Abe was shifted indoors because of rain.

Her remarks precede a statement on Japan's defeat 70 years ago due later this year from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Abe's words are likely to be scrutinized by China and South Korea which in the past have cast doubt on the sincerity of Japanese atonement. Nationalists in Japan claim Tokyo has apologized enough.

Abe is expected to make his own
comments on the war later this year

Merkel told her Tokyo audience that Germany's neighbors in Europe, especially France, had offered essential gestures of "rapprochement" after 1945.

"This was possible first because Germany did face its past squarely, but also because the Allied Powers who controlled Germany after the Second World War would attach great importance to Germany coming to grips with its past," she said.

"Germany was lucky to be accepted in the community of nations after the horrible experience that the world had to meet with Germany during the period of National Socialism (Nazism) and the Holocaust," she added.

She referred to a renowned speech given in 1985 by the late German president, Richard von Weizsäcker, in which he called the end of WWII in Europe on May 8, 1945 a "day of liberation."

China seeks 'sincerity'

On Sunday, China's foreign minister Wang Yi said Abe would be welcome at Beijing's commemorations of the end of WWII, if he was "sincere" about history.

Beijing regards September 3, 1945, as its day to remember, one day after Japan signed its surrender to Allied forces on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

Robotics and renewables

On a lighter note, Merkel was "greeted" by the robot Asimo at Tokyo's Miraikan futures museum with a demonstration of his football kicking ability.

During a discussion with students and professors, she reiterated Germany's decision in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster almost four years ago to phase out its nuclear power plants by 2022 and opt for renewable energy sources such as wind and solar capture.

"For me, Fukushima was a life-changing experience because Fukushima happened in a country that has a very high level of technical quality," she said, adding that for a long period she had supported nuclear power.

Japanese authorities have authorized the reactivation of four of Japan's 48 idle nuclear power plants.

Merkel encouraged her host scientists and students to spend time in Germany, saying there were numerous possibilities for joint research work involving the world's third and fourth-largest economies.

Female poverty highlighted

Merkel hosts this year's G7 summit of the world's seven major industrial powers in Bavaria in June. Her visit to Japan is her first since 2008.

On Sunday, to mark International Women's Day, 36 prominent women, including Beyonce Knowles and Meryl Streep, submitted a petition to Merkel, calling on her to use the G7 summit to tackle female poverty.

ipj/msh (dpa, AP, AFP, Reuters)

Angela Merkel with Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on 9 March. Photograph: Reuters

Related Articles:

Merkel urges Tokyo to confront Japan's WWII sex slavery crimes - New
‘Do mention the war,’ Merkel urges Japanese

Japan prepares to mark three years since devastating quake

Norway named best place to grow old

Yahoo – AFP, 1 Oct 2014

An elderly woman makes her way through the snow in Norway which tops the
Global AgeWatch index ahead of Sweden (AFP)

Norway is the best place to grow old, according to the latest Global AgeWatch index of 96 countries published on Wednesday, while Afghanistan is the worst.

All but one of the top 10 countries are in Western Europe, North America and Australasia, with Japan the exception at ninth place, according to the ranking which comprises 91 percent of the global population over the age of 60.

Norway tops the index, pushing last year's number one Sweden into second place in the second year the index has been released.

An elderly Afghan man carries firewood over 

his shoulders in Afghanistan -- bottom on the

list of places to live in old age

Unsurprisingly, African countries make up half of the lowest quarter of the index, although Venezuela, Turkey and Serbia are ranked 76th, 77th and 74th respectively.

HelpAge International, the charity which compiled the list, said economic growth in itself was not enough to improve the lives of older people.

"Specific policies need to be put in place to address the implications of ageing," said the report, published on the United Nations International Day of Older Persons.

"Policies on income security in Mexico (30) have lifted it 26 places in the overall rankings since last year despite being less wealthy than Turkey (77)."

The index is based on 13 indicators grouped into four areas: income security; health status; capability, which includes employment and educational status; and the enabling environment, including issues such as physical safety.

Some countries fare better than others in different areas. Japan tops the rankings when it comes to health, while Switzerland has the best environment for older people.

'Explosion' of pensions

This year's report focuses particularly on income security, namely pensions, which older people consistently identify as their top priority to fend off the risk of poverty.

With rising numbers of old people -- two billion over the age of 60 by 2050, a similar number as children under 15 -- HelpAge International chief Toby Porter said pensions were vital for all governments.

"Incomes are often too low to save for old age, which is why there's such a need for a basic social pension now," he said.

African countries make up half of the

lowest quarter of the index

In low and middle-income countries, only one in four people over 65 receive a pension while worldwide, half of the global population do not have a pension, the report said.

But it applauds an "explosion" of new tax-financed, non-contributory pensions over the past two decades, which provide regular income for the very poorest.

Across Latin America, countries have "dramatically extended coverage" of social pensions, helping push them up the global rankings.

This reflects a global trend that saw China introduce a rural social pension in 2009, reaching 133 million more people, and Nepal and Thailand follow a similar route.

"In most European Union countries, pensions systems as a whole do more to reduce inequality than all other parts of the tax or benefit system combined," said Porter.

The top 10 in the index are: Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Iceland, United States, Japan and New Zealand.

The bottom 10 are: Iraq, Zambia, Uganda, Jordan, Pakistan, Tanzania, Malawi, West Bank and Gaza, Mozambique and Afghanistan.