EIM actively joined the 4th Japan-EU Industrial Railway Dialogue which took place on 10th November 2015 in Tokyo, Japan.

On Tuesday 10th November 2015 in Tokyo (Japan), the European Commission and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of Japan met together with European and Japanese Industry representatives at the 4th Japan-EU Industrial Railway Dialogue.

Organised jointly by the European Commission and the Japanese government, the Industrial Dialogue aims at promoting fruitful cooperation between relevant public and private actors in the railway business. It also facilitates exchanges on critical topics addressed in the EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, as well as fostering valuable exchange on key-issues such as market access, public procurement trend and technical regulations & standards.

EIM – the Association representing the rail infrastructure managers in Europe – welcomes the outcome of the 4th meeting which calls for more mutual effort to strengthen the business and market interactions on a level-playing field. Moreover, EIM gave a Presentation on current and upcoming trends of public procurement notably focusing on the contract-awards’ criteria in the light of the new EU’s legal framework.

Monika Heiming, EIM’s Executive Director, said: – ‘’Improving the global competitiveness of the European railways represents both a challenge and an opportunity. The Industrial Railway Dialogue effectively brings together authorities, industries and operators from Europe and Japan. It helps them to build mutual business understanding and explore thoroughly the opportunities in the respective markets. EIM is therefore fully committed in playing an active role in the future Industrial Dialogue meetings’’ –.