"Japan has a very small percentage of foreign direct investment in its economy," Mandelson said, adding that Britain could offer advice on reform. "Japan would benefit by easing some of the regulatory restrictions that prevent more foreign direct investment taking place. This will require reform in Japan, and in this area as in the wider issues of reform, I offered the partnership of Britain," Mandelson told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama at his official residence in Tokyo.
Foreign direct investment into Japan came to about 3.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2008, compared with 15.1 percent of GDP in the United States and 48.6 percent in the United Kingdom in 2007, according to JETRO, a Japanese trade organization.
The discrepancy has sparked criticism, and the Japanese government launched a campaign to raise inward investment to 5 percent of GDP by 2010. "All of us face more competition in the global economy.”
