3rd Japan Seminar in Johannesburg

September 2015

On September 22, JETRO co-organized the 3rd Japan Seminar in Johannesburg, South Africa, together with the local Embassy of Japan and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (JCCI) in the country. The seminar, which was held as a part of the project subsidized by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, attracted approximately 230 attendees including Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.

In this seminar entitled “Building Industrial Clusters in South Africa and Developing Human Resources: Contribution of Japanese Companies to South African Economy”, speeches were provided by Ambassador of Japan Shigeyuki Hiroki and Chairman of the JCCI in South Africa Sachio Kaneki. Presentations were also given by executives of local Japanese-affiliated companies including Toyota Motors, Sun Ace and Sakata Seed, demonstrating what contribution Japanese companies will be able to offer for the industrialization of the country.

In his keynote speech, Professor Akifumi Kuchiki of Nihon University gave an explanation about the role Japanese companies have played in forming industrial clusters and developing the economy in Asian countries based on the results of his many years’ study.

Deputy President Ramaphosa, who made a speech at the South Africa Business Forum held in Tokyo on August 25 by JETRO and the South African Embassy in Japan, took the podium in this seminar once again. He praised the role of JETRO as a platform that forms trade and investment relations between African countries and Japanese companies. He also stated that given the importance of industrialization and development of skills as driving forces for accelerating economic growth in South Africa, the government included effective industrial policy among the priorities within the framework of its mid-term strategy. From this perspective, he expressed willingness to partner with Japan through the TICAD scheme.

From the Department of Trade and Industry, with which JETRO has concluded a memorandum of understanding, the director in charge of regional industrial clusters gave comments. After introducing the plan of the South African Government to expand special economic zones, he said that through the presentations about case studies in Asia, he was able to acquire knowledge helpful toward formulating an industry-specific cluster policy for his country.

(All photos are taken by JETRO)