Chapter 4 JETRO’s Efforts to Promote Investment in Japan

95 Foreign Companies Successfully Completed Investment Project with JETRO’s Support in Fiscal 2019

  • JETRO supported 943 projects in fiscal 2019 and led 95 investment projects to successfully enter or expand business in the Japanese market.
  • By region of origin of these foreign companies, North America is the largest with 34.7%, followed by Asia (32.6% of the total) and Europe (25.3%). By country, the US accounted for 31.6%, which made it the only country that exceeded 30%.
  • By industry, ICT and telecommunications accounted for the largest share at 37.9%.
  • By investment destination within Japan, while Tokyo was the largest with 60.0%, around 40.0% continued to expand outside of Tokyo, the trend of which has been observed in previous years.

JETRO-attracted Investments by Region（n=95）

The pie chart shows JETRO-attracted investments in 2019 (n=95) by region in percentages: North America 34.7%, Asia 32.6%, Europe 25.3%, and others 7.4%.

JETRO-attracted Investments by Country（n=95）

The pie chart shows JETRO-attracted investments in 2019 (n=95) by country in percentages: US 31.6%, China 11.6%, Germany 6.3%, France 6.3%, South Korea 5.3%, and others 38.9%.

JETRO-attracted Investments by Industry（n=95）

The pie chart shows JETRO-attracted investments in 2019 (n=95) by sector in percentages: ICT & telecommunications 37.9%, other manufacturing 11.6%, services 10.5%, electrical and electronic equipment and parts 8.4%, environment and energy 8.4%, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, related services 8.4%, and others 14.7%.

JETRO-attracted Investments by Investment Destination（n=95）

The pie chart shows JETRO-attracted investments in 2019 (n=95) by investment destination in percentages: Tokyo 60.0%, other than Tokyo 40.0%, Osaka 9.5%, Kanagawa 8.4%, Aichi 4.2%, and others 17.9%.

JETRO Provides Comprehensive Support for market Entry and Business Expansion in Japan, even under the COVID-19 Crisis

  • JETRO, as Japan’s only public organization promoting foreign investment to Japan, provides a full range of services, from the dissemination of information on Japan’s business environment to the discovery of companies interested in investing in Japan, support for establishing bases, and support for expanding business in the country.
  • Even under the COVID-19 crisis, as part of the efforts to strengthen the information dissemination functions, JETRO worked on videos that capture the Japanese market, which is being transformed through the pandemic, in order to disseminate information on a new Japanese society. In addition, together with local governments, JETRO is to hold Regional Business Conference (RBC) online, which were held offline in fiscal 2019, with a theme of disaster prevention/mitigation and innovation in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture and that of startup ecosystems in Kyoto, Osaka, and Hyogo.

Overview of JETRO’s Efforts to Promote Investments in Japan

The diagram summarizes JETRO's activities to promote investments in Japan classified into three categories: activities for foreign and foreign-affiliated companies, those for local governments in Japan, and those for the national government.Activities for foreign and foreign-affiliated companies include: (1) Dissemination of information on the Japanese business environment (Investing in Japan website, various materials and brochures, overseas seminars and symposiums).(2) Finding foreign companies interested in investment or collaboration in Japan (networking at business events and exhibitions, providing market and regulatory information, preparing market entry proposals, business matching with potential candidates).(3) Supporting business setups through IBSC (temporary offices in Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kobe, Fukuoka, advice from specialists in business setup, legal, employment, and tax matters).(4) Business expansion with Japanese partners (business matching with Japanese companies, supporting cooperation with local governments, supporting secondary investment and business expansion). Activities for Japanese local governments include:(1) Support for building inward investment strategies (advice on planning strategies to attract foreign companies).(2) Support for publicity (supporting promotion by high-level officials to attract investment in their regions, providing opportunities to deliver speeches at investment seminars overseas).(3) Support for approaching foreign companies (inviting foreign companies interested in investing in Japan). For the national government, JETRO puts together requests for improving the business environment in Japan and makes policy recommendations. Specific activities include gathering opinions and requests from foreign-affiliated companies in Japan and foreign companies interested in investing in Japan, making policy recommendations, and publicizing the investment environment improvements in Japan.

Video to Convey the Changes in the Japanese Market due to COVID-19

Thumbnail link to the youtube video titled With and Beyond COVID-19: Business Opportunities in Japan.

Full version(7:16)External site: a new window will open.

Short version(2:03)External site: a new window will open.

Online RBC on Bosai-tech

A banner (without an URL link) with a text message, BOSAI-TECH Open Innovation Challenge in Japan Regional Business Conference 2020.

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