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The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 14 June 2026.

The Prime Minister hosted the Prime Minister of Japan Sanae Takaichi for a meeting in Downing Street today. 

The leaders celebrated upgrading the strategic partnership between the UK and Japan and bringing in a new era of cooperation between our two countries.

They welcomed the signing of the UK-Japan Frontier Technology Partnership, enhancing world-leading British research capabilities with Japan’s advanced manufacturing, along with a joint Economic Security Declaration for advancing cooperation on economic security.

The Prime Minister also welcomed significant new Japanese investment into the UK, supporting tens of thousands of jobs, including in real estate and financial services.

The leaders discussed the conflict in the Middle East, Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, stability in the Indo-Pacific region and the importance of resilient global supply chains and free trade. 

On defence, they agreed to deepen industrial collaboration, including through a new Defence Capability and Industrial Council. They also welcomed closer work together including the shared commitment to the Global Combat Air Programme.

They looked forward to meeting again at next week’s G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains and building further on the close partnership in the months ahead.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 14 June 2026.

Context

The UK-Japan relationship has reached an all-time high, anchored by a powerful alliance in science and technology. This momentum is driven by high-impact collaboration – including our Strategic Cyber Partnership (2026), Economic Security and Industrial Strategy Partnerships (2025), Semiconductor Partnership (2023), and Digital Partnership (2022) – all of which build upon the enduring foundation of the 1994 Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology.

As each other’s closest security partners in Europe and Asia respectively, the UK and Japan are uniquely positioned to harness our shared innovation capabilities. By working together as like-minded nations, our science and technology relationship will deliver high-value growth and technological agency. This collaboration will leverage our complementary strengths to enhance our economic and national security in an era of growing geopolitical unpredictability with the overarching goal of achieving peace, prosperity and stability for the international community.

In January 2026, UK Prime Minister Starmer and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi announced their intent to work together to progress high priority frontier technology challenges, harnessing our foundational science and technology strengths to bolster mutual economic growth and economic resilience.

Commitment

This Frontier Technology Partnership will deliver that commitment, combining the UK’s world-class software and research leadership with Japan’s unparalleled hardware and manufacturing power to support collaboration across our distinct yet highly compatible industrial bases. It accelerates and advances our nations’ ambitions as set out in the UK’s Industrial Strategy and Japan’s Growth Strategy.

We will build on our deep and valued science and technology relationship, setting out a shared ambition to go further, with a focus on the technologies that are most crucial for the future and with innovation ecosystems based on security, safety, trust and cooperation.

• We will promote and protect these critical and emerging technologies through government co-operation and coordinated, targeted R&D support.
• We will generate growth and build a competitive edge by mobilising private capital towards strategic technologies​, fostering commercial collaboration and supporting high-potential companies to emerge and scale.
• We will shape the development of critical technologies and safeguard our shared values through multilateral coordination on international standards and regulation.

Cooperation

Both the UK and Japan have identified emerging technologies that are critical for the flourishing of each nation. These are technologies that are already fundamentally disrupting economies and societies across the world.

The UK and Japan recognise that now is the moment to invest in these technologies and work together as like-minded and complementary innovation ecosystems.

We have a shared vision and ambition:

• Together, the UK and Japan will be AI makers and not just AI takers, fostering resilient, safe, secure, and trustworthy AI ecosystems and enhancing our national AI capabilities. We have committed to promoting ties between our respective AI innovation ecosystems, advancing joint research to unlock the power of AI for Science, and exploring formal pathways to interlock our AI semiconductor strengths. We reaffirm the need for a stable and safe AI supply chain, and recognise the importance of promoting efforts, in cooperation with diversified partners and suppliers to enhance the resilience of AI supply chains. We will deepen cooperation between Japan AISI and UK AISI in driving forward the science of AI evaluation through the International Network for Advanced AI Measurement, Evaluation and Science. Furthermore, we will work to further promote the Hiroshima AI Process and to explore synergies between our respective initiatives on AI cooperation with the Global South in co-creating a safe, secure, and trustworthy AI ecosystem globally. We concurred on establishing a high-level dialogue on AI to advance cooperation in these priority areas and supporting Japan toward hosting a successful AI Summit following Switzerland in 2027.
• We will develop globally competitive, commercially scalable and deployable quantum technologies, including computing, sensing and communications, building on our Quantum Memorandum of Cooperation (2025). We will strengthen the connection between the UK and Japan’s quantum computing capabilities. UK and Japanese businesses will export, invest, and conduct R&D in one another’s markets, and both governments are committed to joint, long-term collaboration on quantum high-performance computing (HPC) integration. In parallel, we will advance practical applications of quantum technologies across computing, sensing, communication and networking domains through strengthened cooperation on testbeds, evaluation frameworks and system integration.
• We will work in close collaboration to explore new approaches to mobilise investment and accelerate innovation in the next generation of defence and dual-use technologies.
• We will deepen our efforts to counter and deter novel and emerging biological threats as part of our broader approach to dual-use S&T, strengthening our shared commitment to non-proliferation, and our strategic approaches to enhancing biological security as part of our wider cooperation on science and technology.
• We will drive forward shared priorities on space through the UK-Japan Space Consultation, including space security, space sustainability, and commercial development, pursuing opportunities for joint industry-led research under JAXA and the UK Space Agency, including on satellite communications technologies to protect and enhance the vital networks that underpin our nations’ shared security and prosperity.
• We will shape advanced connectivity technologies to ensure that future telecoms networks are secure and resilient and address the needs of our societies and economies. This will include delivering on our joint research programme and working through the Global Coalition on Telecommunications to implement the 6G Security & Resilience Principles.
• We will deepen efforts to decommission our nuclear legacies more efficiently and safely, furthering the collaboration between our cutting-edge robotics capabilities to solve some of the world’s most complex engineering challenges—more efficient and safer decommissioning of nuclear sites like Sellafield and TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
• We will deepen efforts to develop civil nuclear collaboration, including advanced nuclear technologies and fusion energy, by strengthening practical cooperation between industry and research institutions in the UK and Japan.
• We will build resilience to cyber threats, reinforcing and strengthening long term cyber cooperation through the UK-Japan Strategic Cyber Partnership, welcoming industry-led initiatives that harness complementary capabilities and working together to strengthen the resilience of critical national infrastructure against the full range of cyber threats facing the UK and Japan.
• We will work together to protect critical and emerging technologies through deepening cooperation on research security, recognising the need to manage risks associated with those technologies, while supporting open, secure, and trusted international research collaboration. We commit to working bilaterally and with like-minded partners to share information on policy measures to reduce loss of critical technology. This work will be complementary to the Joint Declaration on Economic Security Cooperation.
• We will work together to promote research and development in the field of healthcare whilst building our capabilities as globally connected world-leading hubs for drug discovery.

Commercial Announcements 

Alongside this Statement, the UK and Japan welcome commercial announcements by industry partners launching collaborative projects in critical technology sectors identified in the UK-Japan Industrial Strategy Partnership such as Quantum, AI and Cybersecurity. These commercial initiatives demonstrate the real-world practical and economic benefit of our partnership on Frontier Technology.

This Frontier Technology Partnership does not constitute or create any legally binding obligations.  Nothing in this Partnership is intended to alter or affect any existing agreements between the Participants. Cooperation is intended to take place within the framework of applicable national legislation and international obligations.

Signed in duplicate at London on 14 June 2026 in the English language

For the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:

Prime Minister Keir Starmer

For the Government of Japan:

Prime Minister TAKAICHI Sanae

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 14 June 2026.

UK-Japan Joint Declaration on Economic Security Cooperation.

1, We, the Prime Ministers of Japan and the United Kingdom, acknowledge that UK-Japan relations are the strongest in living memory, grounded in deep cooperation on economic and security priorities. This Joint Declaration on Economic Security Cooperation, complementing the Hiroshima Accord in 2023, and accompanied by the Japan-UK Frontier Technology Partnership on critical and emerging technologies, sets out our strategic and coordinated vision to advance our bilateral cooperation on economic security.

Bilateral Economic Security Cooperation

2, We will deepen our collaboration on economic security through bilateral dialogues such as the Economic 2+2 and the Japan-UK Strategic Economic Policy and Trade Dialogue, the Japan-UK Financial Dialogue, the Japan-UK Energy and Climate Dialogue, the Ministerial Digital Council, and the Joint Committee Meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation, as well as through the Industrial Strategy Partnership and the Economic Security Partnership. 

Bilateral Trade and Investment

3, We will enhance cooperation to promote trade and investment opportunities in strategic sectors, increasing the predictability and transparency of the investment environment in a way that is consistent with market principles and private-sector ownership. To do this, we will promote our countries as favourable destinations for bilateral investment and trade, and facilitate deeper coordination between our strategic finance agencies. We will deepen collaboration on investment security through furthering information sharing on investment screening policies and practices.

Public-Private Partnership

4, We will strengthen our public-private partnerships to maximise opportunities and enhance collective resilience, including by proactively seeking input from industries. We recognise, as embodied in the Joint Statement issued by the Keidanren and CBI in November 2025, the importance of dialogue between the business communities of Japan and the UK on economic security. We will jointly explore approaches to encourage corporate behavioural change across both Japan and the UK to enhance economic security through efforts such as joint initiatives to promote secure and resilient growth in and through critical technologies. We will encourage further exchanges on policy and research in our two countries, and deepen collaboration between our respective policy research institutions, including with the economic security focused think-tank to be established by the Government of Japan.      

5, In this context, we welcomed the announcement of concrete cooperation projects across the spectrum of our Industrial Strategy Partnership sectors. These include offshore wind, with the launch of the “Offshore Wind Industrial Compact” to promote finance, R&D, and supply chain development collaboration.

Supply Chain Resilience including Energy

6, Transparent, diversified, secure, sustainable, trustworthy and reliable supply chains and access to key sectors are central to our economic security and resilience. We will further enhance cooperation to develop resilient and reliable supply chains, complemented by efforts to enhance collective resilience among Japan, the UK and our strategic partners. Recognising heightened risks to the global economy amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, especially through pressures on energy supply chains, we reaffirm the importance of ensuring energy trade flow, effective emergency response measures including through national oil reserve systems, and close international cooperation including with relevant international organisations such as the IEA, coordination between producer and consumer countries, and via initiatives including Global Clean Power Alliance (GCPA) and Partnership On Wide Energy and Resources Resilience Asia (POWERR Asia). We underscore the importance of restoring free navigation of critical commodities that underpin the resilience of our economies, and recognise the heightened impact of disruption on vulnerable countries.

7, We express our grave concerns regarding economic coercion and arbitrary export restrictions, including on critical minerals, that destabilise global supply chains and undermine economic security and resilience. We reiterate that, whenever implemented, export control measures should be narrowly defined, non-discriminatory, and in line with international law and practice, so as not to disrupt strategic supply chains, notably those for critical minerals. We will work together to share information and consult on instances of economic coercion and consider appropriate responses.     

Critical Minerals and Related Supply Chains

8, We will deepen cooperation on critical minerals under the 2023 Japan-UK Memorandum of Cooperation on Critical Minerals. We will work together with partners to reduce critical dependencies by enhancing cooperation among G7 members and like-minded countries in areas such as mining, refining, processing, recycling, and stockpiling. We will encourage closer engagement between relevant public finance institutions and other agencies. We have tasked officials to take forward a focused dialogue on projects of mutual interest, including in battery materials and recycling, and on opportunities for cooperation in third countries.

9, We further recognise the importance of maintaining and strengthening our midstream and downstream industries’ competitiveness, including in relation to critical minerals, by protecting critical technologies, and commit to working bilaterally and with like-minded partners to coordinate on policy measures for technology control.

Innovation

10, Jointly maintaining and developing our respective strengths and indispensability in critical technologies will help drive resilience, productivity and economic growth in both our countries and sustain essential manufacturing and technological capability. We remain committed to deepening cooperation on Critical and Emerging Technologies, including in areas outlined in the Frontier Technology Partnership (FTP).

11, Both innovation and protection of such technologies are equally important. We will coordinate our efforts to do this, for example on research security and research integrity where we will work together to manage risk in international research collaboration while supporting open, secure and trusted research.

12, We will increase collaboration among our innovation, VC and startup ecosystems and relevant agencies, including by encouraging greater two-way investment and supporting joint commercialisation in emerging technology, including dual-use, and jointly explore approaches to understand and mitigate potential risks to innovation and commercialisation.

13, Collaboration in critical and emerging technologies, including in the defence industry, plays a vital role in strengthening our collective resilience and economic security. We are committed to further deepening cooperation between our defence industries through industrial and supply chain collaboration, leveraging technology transfer, and expertise sharing, with GCAP as a catalyst for promoting such cooperation.

The Rules-Based International Economic Order

14, We reaffirm that a well-functioning rules-based multilateral trading system regulated by the set of trade rules within the World Trade Organization (WTO) should continue to serve as the bedrock of our economic prosperity, resilience and security. To this end, we will work towards the meaningful and necessary reform of the WTO to ensure that it is fit for purpose and addresses the challenges we face. We also reaffirm our shared concerns about the use of non-market policies and practices (NMPPs) leading to harmful overcapacity and market distortion, which could deepen economic dependencies and vulnerabilities.

15, We will work together to ensure that the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) continues to support the prosperity of our economies including through implementation and continued expansion in line with the Auckland Principles, while reaffirming our commitment to adhering to the CPTPP, the Japan-UK Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and WTO rules. We will update and enhance the CPTPP, including through the areas of supply chain resilience, economic coercion, and market-distorting practices.

16, We share the importance of further enhancing cooperation with Global South countries, including those in the Indo-Pacific, to enhance their economic resilience and security and to maintain and strengthen a rules-based international economic order through respective and coordinated outreaches in providing assistance and sharing best practices and knowledge including on relevant legislations and systems to address economic security challenges.

Signed in duplicate at London, UK, on 14 June 2026 in the English language.

For the Government of the United Kingdom                          For the Government of Japan

Keir Starmer                                                                 Takaichi Sanae     

Prime Minister                                                               Prime Minister