October 1st, 1987,
The Quebec-Japan Business Forum is officially established.
The initial mission of the association is:
“To promote relations between Quebec business people and Japanese business people, as well as to promote economic exchanges. ”
Surrounded by a group of dynamic business people, the association is created by 3 founding members:
- Mr. Normand Bernier, First Delegate General of the Government of Quebec in Japan
- Mr. Masato Miyachi, banker (Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ)
- Mr. Sumihiko Sato, Trade Commissioner (JETRO)
Economic context
In the 1980s, Japan developed a better organization of work and favoured technological innovation in the most promising sectors (telecommunications, electronics, information technology, office automation, robotics, biotechnology, etc.). In October 1987, Mr. Noboru Takeshita succeeded Mr. Yasuhiro Nakasone as Prime Minister.
In Quebec, after the major cuts of 1986-87, Robert Bourassa’s government announced in the 1987-88 budget that the economy was doing well and that it had succeeded in reducing the deficit. In 1987, Quebec’s Minister of International Relations, Gil Rémillard, travelled to Japan to make known his administration’s position on Quebec’s political future.