The EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation is a unique venture between the European Commission and the Japanese Government. It is a non-profit organisation established as an affiliate of the Institute of International Studies and Training (IIST).
It aims at promoting all forms of industrial, trade and investment cooperation between the EU and Japan. It manages policy-related and business support activities such as managerial training courses, cluster missions, information seminars, researches, a business forum, an info & help desk, as well as various other services all designed to help bring European and Japanese businesses together.
Activities that are supported include student placement schemes, such as “Vulcanus in Japan”, a 1-year internship programme for European engineers and science-major students.
The EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation also proposes the MINERVA EU-Japan Fellowship Programme, a 6 months' fellowship for EU and Japanese professionals. The in-house fellowship scheme in Japan is designed to support its research and policy analysis of EU-Japan economic and industrial issues.