Japanese to target Asia for growth
By Yuri Kageyama |
January 6, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
JAPANESE business leaders said yesterday they were looking to Asia for growth and banking on Japan's strength in technology to keep an emerging recovery going in the coming year.
"Expanding in Asia is going to drive growth," Fujio Mitarai, chief executive of Japanese camera and equipment maker Canon Inc, said at an annual New Year's gathering for business leaders.
The celebration at a Tokyo hotel was organized by corporate lobby groups, including Keidanren, which Mitarai heads, and the Chambers of Commerce for Japan and Tokyo.
In the past, businesses here mainly looked to the United States to furnish growth.
That is changing as prospects dim for exports to the world's largest economy after the financial crisis. Growth is also tepid in Japan and Europe, and executives have their eyes on the purchasing power of Asia's growing middle class.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who attended the party, said Japan can't rely on the old-style growth policies and must create new businesses, such as health services and medicine.
"Japan can lead the world by focusing on technology and science," he said.
Many companies are rapidly shaping strategies to woo consumers in emerging markets, developing products - and setting their prices lower - to cater to their needs.
Japan's exports to Asia totaled 2.7 trillion yen (US$29 billion) in November - more than the 1.544 trillion yen to North America and Western Europe combined, according to the finance ministry.
One by one, the executives at the gathering said they were cautiously optimistic for a recovery led by Asian growth. They also boasted Japan's technological prowess holds the key for success.
"Expanding in Asia is going to drive growth," Fujio Mitarai, chief executive of Japanese camera and equipment maker Canon Inc, said at an annual New Year's gathering for business leaders.
The celebration at a Tokyo hotel was organized by corporate lobby groups, including Keidanren, which Mitarai heads, and the Chambers of Commerce for Japan and Tokyo.
In the past, businesses here mainly looked to the United States to furnish growth.
That is changing as prospects dim for exports to the world's largest economy after the financial crisis. Growth is also tepid in Japan and Europe, and executives have their eyes on the purchasing power of Asia's growing middle class.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who attended the party, said Japan can't rely on the old-style growth policies and must create new businesses, such as health services and medicine.
"Japan can lead the world by focusing on technology and science," he said.
Many companies are rapidly shaping strategies to woo consumers in emerging markets, developing products - and setting their prices lower - to cater to their needs.
Japan's exports to Asia totaled 2.7 trillion yen (US$29 billion) in November - more than the 1.544 trillion yen to North America and Western Europe combined, according to the finance ministry.
One by one, the executives at the gathering said they were cautiously optimistic for a recovery led by Asian growth. They also boasted Japan's technological prowess holds the key for success.
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