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Tokyo, Japan May 19-22, 2002 with the assistance of United Airlines Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle U.S. Department of Commerce Washington Software Alliance Washington State Office of Trade and Economic Development Japan Society of Northern California Japan-America Society of Greater Philadelphia  Japan is the second largest market in the world for information technology products and services after the U.S. The Japanese IT industry has grown remarkably over the last decade despite an overall stagnant Japanese economy. Entering the 21st century, Japan is moving toward becoming an IT country where an increasing number of people can receive great benefit from its IT infrastructure. To this end, the government of Japan has established the IT Strategy Council, which has set out a plan for Japan to become the world leader in IT by 2005.
Because of these facts and recent significant deregulation initiatives by the Japanese government, there are more opportunities than ever before for foreign IT companies doing business in Japan. While a number of American IT companies have taken advantage of this situation, many more opportunities exist for enterprising firms.
The Japan-America Society’s 2002 IT Mission will venture to Tokyo in May for three intensive days of industry briefings and networking receptions that will allow participants the opportunity to learn from first hand, in-country observations and discussions with Japanese and foreign IT leaders.
Among other germane topics geared to put participants in the know about the opportunities in the Japan market, briefings in Japan will explore:• wireless issuesParticipants will return with not only a first-hand understanding of the IT opportunities in Japan but also a most valuable rolodex of high-level IT connections, both Japanese and foreign, making this mission a most cost-effective use of participants’ time and money. To facilitate dialogue with IT leaders in Japan, our mission is limited to 20 participants. Our itinerary will include briefings by, among others: • leaders of new economy companies such as AOL Mobile, Neoteny, and NetYearPast participants have given our missions top marks. The following is representative of the comments we have received from past mission delegates. "I have been on both last year's and the prior year's missions. They were extremely valuable in a number of very commercial ways. The effectiveness vs. the cost of participating is extremely high. It can take months for a skilled person to create warm open relationships with major companies. JAS does this for you and creates a concentrated three-day period where you do get access to many key players in the industry in a very integrated, cross functional arrangement. They have been prepared to give straight answers about the subjects that our mission addresses. My life's work is building businesses internationally. I think it would take about $15,000-$30,000 to create the arrangement of introductions and open relationships that JAS does for only $3,500. I sandwiched business in Japan before and after the missions. The information and connections I had from the mission gave me much better credibility in my other meetings. During the mission, I met many top officials at networking meetings. I have followed up and done business with several. One president met during these meetings agreed to be the initial Japanese adopter for the technologies I represented. I had a heads up from Sony and several other firms on new areas of business interest that allowed me to engage related parties. There are many more examples, but this mission is the most commercial, business-development-oriented opportunity that you will find anywhere at any price, and is a far more efficient way to move forward than to simply do it on your own." |
Details
Japan-America Society of the State of Washington
Offices in the World Trade Center West
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