KOTRA "Diversify Entry Fields in Japan Through Olympic Opportunities"

On the 13th, Japan's Trade and Investment Expansion Strategy Meeting Held in Osaka

KOTRA held a Japan Regional Trade and Investment Expansion Strategy Meeting in Osaka, Japan on the 13th. Kwon Pyung-oh, President of KOTRA (fifth from the left), is taking a commemorative photo with the heads of Japan regional trade offices who attended the meeting. (Photo by KOTRA)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] Kwon Pyung-oh, President of KOTRA, emphasized the need to strengthen exports to Japan through diversification of entry sectors.

KOTRA announced on the 16th that it held a Japan regional trade and investment expansion strategy meeting in Osaka, Japan on the 13th. At the meeting where all Japan regional trade representatives gathered, President Kwon stated, "We will actively support the re-acceleration of our exports in the Japanese market by leveraging the Tokyo Olympics boom and diversifying entry into the materials, parts, and equipment sectors."

Last year, despite the strained Korea-Japan relations due to Japan's export restrictions, our exports to Japan and investment attraction performed relatively well. Exports decreased by 6.9% to $28.4 billion compared to 2018, which was a smaller decline than the overall export performance (-10.3%). During the same period, investment attraction increased by 9.9% to $1.43 billion, driven by growth in service industry investments.

This year, Japan is expected to continue its economic growth based on the Tokyo Olympics hosting, ongoing economic stimulus measures, and domestic market stability. However, KOTRA explained that variables such as the impact of the consumption tax rate increase and post-Olympics aftereffects also exist.

At the meeting, KOTRA derived a Japan entry strategy focusing on ▲concentrating support capabilities on the Olympic boom and promising export items ▲improving export structure using new export methods and new export engines ▲attracting investments that contribute to strengthening economic fundamentals ▲supporting the creation of quality jobs.

First, targeting the Tokyo Olympics boom expected to generate an economic effect of about 30 trillion yen, KOTRA will strengthen the entry of premium consumer goods and ICT services into the Japanese market. It will promote export consultation meetings for consumer goods linked to the Korean Wave and support the activation of cooperation in promising ICT fields such as 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT). Additionally, to diversify exports in the materials, parts, and equipment sectors, efforts will be made to discover new demand linked to key industries of each trade center.

By utilizing crowdfunding and online platforms, KOTRA will target the e-commerce market and create synergy effects between online sales and offline promotion by combining online and offline businesses. To create new export engines, it will also strengthen the entry of the medical and bio industries into the Japanese market.

Furthermore, to attract investments that enhance the competitiveness of domestic industries, investment attraction activities will be carried out in connection with domestic demand companies and local government target industries. Financial investment attraction for domestic startups will also be strengthened.

KOTRA is cooperating with related organizations such as overseas diplomatic missions to discover excellent jobs in Japan. Going forward, it plans to expand the base for overseas employment by discovering quality employers in regional mid-sized cities. Securing a pool of excellent talent preferred by local companies is essential to improve employment support outcomes. KOTRA plans to strengthen cooperation with domestic university programs supporting employment in Japan to respond accordingly.

President Kwon said, "To overcome the difficulties caused by strained Korea-Japan relations, we will diversify entry sectors," adding, "We will spare no support for our companies to discover new cooperation fields so that both countries can move forward into the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.