News & Updates

“JETRO Invest Japan Report 2019” published -Innovation by foreign companies spreading across Japan-

Nov 27, 2019

JETRO has published the “Invest Japan Report 2019,” a comprehensive report covering recent trends in inward FDI to Japan. The following is a summary.

Three main points

Inward FDI stock at the end of 2018 was 30.7 trillion yen, marking a record high for five consecutive years.
The number of successful investment projects supported by JETRO was 241, the highest since JETRO started its support for foreign companies. Each of three major regions (Asia, Europe and North America) recorded the highest number of successful cases.
Foreign-affiliated companies develop their business through addressing social issues or taking advantage of characteristics of local regions by introducing innovative technologies or services.

According to “Survey on Japan’s Investment Climate”* by JETRO, a number of companies see improvement in “acceptance of Japanese companies and society toward foreign investment” and “ease of finding partners.”
Under these circumstances, over 70% of the foreign-affiliated companies are eager to engage in open innovation with Japanese universities/research institutes as well as SMEs. There is high hope to observe further business collaboration between foreign-affiliated companies and Japanese companies/organizations.

With the trend of innovation created by foreign companies spreading across regions within Japan, JETRO has been putting further efforts into attracting startups that are capable of contributing to innovation creation since FY2019. At the Innovation Leaders Summit** held in October 2019, 35 foreign startups participated under the recommendation of JETRO overseas offices. JETRO has signed agreements with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Keidanren and Project Nippon regarding cooperation support between domestic companies and overseas startups.
JETRO is also putting efforts into revitalizing the local economy through inward FDI. In coordination with 28 local governments/municipalities, JETRO provide support inviting foreign companies to Japan, attracting inward FDI and conducting overseas promotions through the “Support Program for Regional Foreign Direct Investment in Japan” that strengthens the invest promotion capacity of local governments.

*	“Survey on Japan’s Investment Climate 2019” Survey conducted by JETRO from June to July 2019, based upon which data on the perception of the business environment in Japan among 213 foreign-affiliated companies is analyzed.
**	Innovation Leaders Summit (ILS): Innovation Leaders Summit (ILS) is one of Asia’s largest open innovation events that carries out business matching between major companies and startups, operated by Project Nippon. ILS started in 2014 and the seventh event was held this year.