Amazon.com Inc. AMZN founder Jeff Bezos, JPMorgan Chase JPM CEO Jamie Dimon and Apple Inc. AAPL CEO Tim Cook attended the state dinner hosted by President Joe Biden for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Other prominent personalities like SoftBank's Masayoshi Son and Robert De Niro were also in attendance.
What Happened: The dinner, held on Wednesday, was a platform for the U.S. and Japan to strengthen their economic and security relations amid growing geopolitical concerns due to China and Russia.
Among other notable attendees were Larry Fink of Blackrock Inc., Jon Gray of Blackstone Inc., and Arvind Krishna of International Business Machines Corp. The dinner was accompanied by a three-course meal and entertainment by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon, reported Bloomberg.
Biden's White House dinner for Kishida was not just a state honor for the Japanese PM, but also to discuss the state of the U.S.-Japan alliance and defense issues. These issues, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, have been a key focus of Kishida and Biden’s meetings.
Biden and Kishida were expected to announce 70 new initiatives to counter China’s growing influence in the region. Amongst these is a new air defense network that comprises of Australia, apart from the U.S. and Japan.
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Other initiatives aimed at strengthening technology partnerships and investments were also announced during the visit. Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith announced a $2.9 billion investment in Japan’s hyperscale cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Why It Matters: The state dinner comes on the heels of a series of significant developments in U.S.-Japan relations. Earlier, Kishida also reached out to American business leaders, advocating for an uptick in technology investments within Japan.
Additionally, the U.S. and Japan are set to discuss a proposal to construct the first high-speed rail in the U.S. using Japanese bullet train technology, a move that could significantly impact the transportation sector in both countries.
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