07 Mar Osaka & Kansai Close-up by CEO David Jacobs
With our 57th annual Joint Business Conference (JBC) being held in Osaka this year we turn our expert focus on the Kansai area, which also includes the major population centres of Kobe and Kyoto, both just a 30 minute train ride from Osaka.
Osaka was previously the engine room of Japan’s electronics industry. But as that sector increasingly relocated overseas and with stiff competition from South Korean conglomerates the area is looking to other diversified opportunities. These include energy related technology, medical research and policies to encourage start-ups.
The area is renowned for its intensity of SME’s. An interesting note on SME’s in Japan – the scale of them is notably different from Australia. In Japan, a small business is generally defined as less than 20 regular employees in the manufacturing sector and a medium sized business has between 20 and 300 employees.
Unique to AJBCC members the Joint Business Conference (JBC) held this year in Osaka from 7-9 October will give members the opportunity to interface with some of these new opportunities.
More detailed information will be released shortly on the upcoming Joint Business Conference in Osaka. Please get in touch with AJBCC directly should you have any questions in the interim.