FY2023 Overseas Investment Seminar in Nagoya

Mr. SHIMAMOTO Ken, Advisor of Strategic Research Department of JBIC Mr. KURIHARA Toshihiko, Chief Representative of JBIC Representative Office in New Delhi

On January 25, 2024, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) held an online seminar “Overseas Investment Seminar in Nagoya: Overseas Business Operations by Japanese Manufacturing Companies” jointly with Tokai Local Finance Bureau, Ministry of Finance; Central Japan Economic Federation; and Nagoya Chamber of Commerce & Industry, under the auspices of Aichi Industry Promotion Organization. It was also supported by Japan Institute for Overseas Investment. The event attracted many participants from small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), financial institutions, and public organizations in mainly the Chukyo area.

The seminar started with a presentation titled “FY2023 JBIC survey report on overseas business operations by Japanese manufacturing companies” by Mr. SHIMAMOTO Ken, Advisor of Strategic Research Department of JBIC. In addition to reporting the medium-term prospects of overseas deployment by Japanese companies and the survey results of promising countries and regions, he explained the latest hot topics such as the shape of supply chains under fragmented global economy, the impact of global price hikes on business development, and issues in sustainability in business development.

It was followed by a talk on “Prospects for India in 2024: understanding its current politics and economy” by Mr. KURIHARA Toshihiko, Chief Representative of JBIC Representative Office in New Delhi. He described the current political and economic situation of India, which ranked as the most promising country in the FY2023 survey, and other issues such as the priority of major policies, and present position and prospect of each sector of the country.

In the Q&A session, participants asked questions about the survey results, including the impacts of various regulations by the Chinese government, such as the tightening of the anti-espionage law. According to Mr. SHIMAMOTO, Japanese companies which have bases in China express widespread concerns about the regulations and maintain a cautious stance in their activities, although there are few companies whose business operations have been affected.
Also in the session, many questions were raised about India, such as the points to remember when an SME expands into the Indian market, the water and electricity infrastructures, the investment ratio at the time of establishing a joint venture, and the local living environment. Mr. KURIHARA gave replies with some local information. He said that the Indian government has a high expectation for Japanese SMEs to enter into the country, as it believes technologies and know-how of such SMEs have made a large contribution to the development of China and ASEAN countries. He also advised companies which concretely consider an expansion into India to use the function of Japanese public institutions, such as JBIC’s Finance Office for SMEs.

JBIC will continue to provide a variety of information about overseas business expansion of Japanese companies.