JETRO Topics
Invest Japan symposiums held in Thailand and Singapore
Calling on further investment into Japan from Asia
May 2015
In May JETRO held back-to-back symposiums promoting investment into Japan in Bangkok, Thailand and Singapore, with approximately 280 and 170 participants respectively. In both countries the events drew many media outlets, and proved to be excellent opportunities for spreading word on the allures of the Japanese market and potential for business in Japan.
In both countries JETRO Chairman Hiroyuki Ishige gave the keynote speech, in which he declared that regulatory and structural reforms in line with the third arrow of Abenomics, the growth strategy, are giving birth to a new market. He stressed that with actions such lowering the corporate tax rate, Japan is no longer a high-cost country. Further, JETRO will continue its outreach for investment into Japan as the core organization tasked with promoting FDI under the Abe administration, which itself has committed to a plan for doubling the amount of direct investment into Japan from abroad.
Thailand: Introducing three promising fields of investment into Japan
The symposium held in Bangkok was organized as part of an initiative outlined in a memorandum of cooperation singed between JETRO and Thailand’s Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) in February of this year, and was jointly hosted by both organizations.
Speeches were given by Chairman Ishige, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula and Siam Cement Group CEO Kan Trakulhoon calling for growth of investment from Thailand to Japan in the fields of R&D, retail and tourism as well as further development of the economic relationship between the two countries. Following an introduction of the investment environment and potential for business in Japan by Thawee Phuangketkeow, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Bangkok Bank, Japan, there were also further explanations regarding growth and investment opportunities in the fields of packaging and renewable energy by Susumu Ohta, Senior Advisor in the R&D Division of Meiji and Atsushi Morihara, Professor of Tokyo Institute Of Technology, respectively. At the networking reception, five prefectural governments from Japan (Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Aichi and Fukuoka) set up booths and promoted the appeal of each region.
Singapore: Introducing success stories of investment into Japan
At the symposium in Singapore, which was co-hosted with International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore), Chairman Ishige was joined in giving a keynote speech by Ronald Tay, CEO of Ascott Residence Trust Management Limited, with both making an appeal for increasing the amount of investment into Japan, emphasizing its high labor productivity. Afterward, representatives from three Singaporean companies which successfully entered the Japanese market with the support of JETRO (Dou Hua Restaurants, My Outlets and Metro Wealth Holdings) each spoke on the background of their investment in Japan, circumstances following entrance into the market and their future plans. The three company representatives also took part in the closing panel discussion where they answered many eager questions from the audience.
