Doing business in Japan - Inverness

31st October 2013

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), in partnership with Scottish Development International (SDI), invites companies to find out more about the business opportunities that exist in Japan at this free event in Inverness on Wednesday 27th November 2013.

Japan is the UK’s largest export market after Europe and the USA and the third largest economy in the world.

With GDP twice the size of the UK and GDP per person 10 times that of China, Japan remains the high-tech powerhouse economy of Asia - with the 2nd highest spend worldwide on Research and Development, a hunger for Intellectual Property (IP) and new trends, and an increasingly globalised outlook.

Japan may not get as much attention as China or India, however, as many Scottish companies are discovering to their benefit, there continues to be major opportunities across all sectors, as well as a business environment that is straight forward and reliable.

Anne MacColl, Chief Executive of SDI said:

"With high rates of GDP growth in Asia, rising income levels, increased urbanisation and more sophisticated tastes, there is a very real opportunity for Scotland to build a profitable export business there."

In this short video, Stephen Baker, SDI's Country Head, explains why Japan is a great place to do business, and also talks about some of the cultural differences to be aware of when meeting with Japanese counterparts.

We're hosting a half day seminar starting at 9.30am, followed by optional one to one meetings, which will help your business take advantages of these opportunities.

Why attend?
This event will feature:

Information on current trends and opportunities
An outline of the practicalities of doing business in Japan
An opportunity to hear first hand from a company already doing business in the market
An interactive question and answer session
One-to-one meetings (upon request) with the speakers providing you with the opportunity for further business discussions and specifics about expanding in the region
Networking opportunities with like-minded business professionals
Strengths of the market
A huge, open economy
A cutting edge business culture: 68 Fortune 500 companies are Japanese (The UK has 30)
While contributing to 7% of world GDP, Japan accounts for around 11% of total global RD spending and has 20% of the top global industry RD spenders
A desire for IP: especially high-end electronics, bio- pharmaceuticals and business services. Japan received 344,000 patent applications in 2010 of which 1,738 were from the UK
Consumers that are highly educated demand the highest standards and are early adopters of new products and services
A strategic stepping stone for other Asian markets, Japan has an increasingly globalised outlook, with English becoming more widespread. Opportunities for Scottish companies in Japan exist across a wide range of sectors including manufacturing, consumer goods, high tech and services.

Sector opportunities
There are specific opportunities for exports of goods and services in the following sectors:

Life sciences and biotech
ICT
Renewable energy and supply chain
Fashion and textiles
Food and drink
Creative and digital content
Event location
This event will take place at Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Cowan House, Inverness Retail and Business Park, Inverness IV2 7GF.

To register for the event go to
http://www.hie.co.uk/about-hie/events/archive/27-11-2013-doing-business-in-japan---inverness.html