Foreign Direct Investment in Japan - Part Three: Will Welsh Companies One Day Invest in Japan?
Hiroshi Tsukamoto (President of JETRO - Japan External Trade Organization)
J. Sean Curtin (Fellow, GLOCOM)
A full list of articles in this series can be found here.
Sean Curtin: There has been a lot of well publicized Japanese investment in Wales and other UK regions. When British business people think of Japan, they normally associate it with investment into the UK not the other way around. How difficult is it to change this mindset?
 Hiroshi Tsukamoto: There are two main points here. Firstly, it is a very favourable time to invest in the Japanese economy. There are substantial advantages for companies that want to come to Japan. Of course, we had a ten-year long period when Japan was in poor shape, but now the country is thriving once again. People's buying power is rising, creating better opportunities for companies to invest. So now is a highly suitable time to consider investing in Japan. It's a great chance in a favourable climate for foreign companies who can find great investment opportunities in Japan.
The second attractive feature is the fantastic innovative capability of Japanese companies which offers UK companies a superb opportunity to forge technological alliances. I have advocated this in several recent speeches.
To summarize, a good environment and innovative alliances are two special features that I hope will attract UK companies to Japan. There are also many other reasons like lower stock market prices, cheaper communications cost and falling land prices that all make Japan a particularly favourable destination.
Sean Curtin: Can you ever envisage a time when Wales will be directly investing in Japan?
Hiroshi Tsukamoto: I hope very much that British people will be interested in investing in Japan. Unfortunately, I have only ever visited Swansea and the southern part of Wales. I hope very much that companies from Cardiff, Swansea and all other parts of Wales will be interested in investing Japan./p>
Sean Curtin: I certainly think it would be marvelous if Welsh companies invested in Japan, because the region itself has benefited a lot from Japanese investment.
Hiroshi Tsukamoto: I entirely agree and hope it will happen.
Sean Curtin: On to a different topic. In Asia, Japan has been ranked bottom with North Korea in terms of English ability. Do think that this is inhibiting European FDI?
Hiroshi Tsukamoto: Yes and no. Let me explain this answer. As far for the no response, this is because nowadays the younger generations of Japanese people have quite good English abilities. Many have experience of living in overseas countries as well as studying abroad. So, there are many young Japanese who speak fluent English.
As for the yes side of my response. Well, of course, some people working for local authorities have difficulty with foreign languages. However, I do not really consider that this can nowadays be considered a barrier because many excellent translators are available.
What we are taking about is not a matter of language. It is a matter of business opportunities. If a business opportunity exists, we can invest in any country by utilizing good interpreters. In China we have invested a lot and we have a lot of Chinese people who are using English.
A full list of articles in this series can be found here.
Related links
Japan is Flying Again - Hiroshi Tsukamoto
Japan External Trade Organization
JETRO London
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