During a conference with American and Japanese business leaders last week in Los Angeles, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker delivered remarks on the U.S.-Japan economic partnership.

Appearing alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy at the Japan-U.S. Economic Forum, Secretary Pritzker discussed how the U.S.-Japan relationship serves as an anchor for the Asia Pacific region.

Today, Japan is America’s fourth largest trading partner and was our top source of foreign investment in 2013, with Japanese firms directing nearly $45 billion into our market. And, with American firms accounting for $123 billion, the United States is Japan’s largest source of accumulated direct investment.  

Japanese FDI already supports more than 718,000 good-paying U.S. jobs, and as more Japanese companies invest here, those numbers will only grow. For example, in February, Mitsubishi Electric announced plans to expand its manufacturing facility in Mason, Ohio, which will create 100 new American jobs.

To make it easier for Japanese and other foreign companies to navigate the American market, the President launched SelectUSA – the first-ever, whole-of-government initiative to attract foreign investments to the United States.

Led by the Commerce Department, SelectUSA is the first point of contact in our government when a foreign company is looking to invest in the United States. A month ago, we held our second SelectUSA Summit, where more than 2,600 business leaders from over 70 international markets met with U.S. economic development officials to identify new investment opportunities throughout our country.

Japan sent the second-largest delegation, with 98 participants representing more than 60 companies and 7 trade associations. Building on the success of our summit, SelectUSA and its Japanese counterpart, JETRO, are developing a Memorandum of Intent to promote more direct investment in each other’s markets. Let us commit to completing this agreement by the end of this year.

Secretary Pritzker also spoke about how Trans-Pacific Partnership will be most effective mechanism for paving the way to even stronger economic ties between our countries. Both the United States and Japan are committed to completing this high-standard agreement. The market opportunity presented by TPP is profound. The Asia Pacific’s middle class is set to grow to 3.2 billion over the next 20 years, which is nearly nine times larger than the entire U.S. population.

Right now, at the Commerce Department, we are working through our domestic political and legislative process to move President Obama’s trade agenda forward.

The Department is also working tirelessly to lay the groundwork across the region in an effort to help American businesses capitalize on an eventual TPP. Since Secretary Pritzker came into office, Commerce has led 11 trade missions to the TPP region, including one to Tokyo last October.

We now have more than 175 foreign commercial service staff in TPP partner countries. They are already working hard to prepare for a wave of new opportunities for our companies across the region. Our team is enhancing our industry-specific expertise, delivered through business counseling, trade events, and reports on best prospects to ensure companies have the data they need to compete. We are also updating our research on market opportunities in TPP member counties, in order to be best positioned to deliver on the benefits of an eventual agreement.  

At the conclusion of her remarks, Secretary Pritzker said, “By completing TPP, and by deepening and expanding our two-way investments, we will form the economic foundation of the next great era of “complete equality and mutual understanding” between Japan and the United States. We will usher in and lead the next phase of our “indestructible partnership.” We will strengthen our legacy of economic cooperation, founded on our shared values, mutual interests, and mutual respect. And we will keep the United States and Japan open for more business together.”