Executives Discuss IT Trends & Investment Opportunities in Japan

Japanese and American business people met at the Robert H. Smith School of Business on November 20 to discuss IT trends and investment opportunities in Japan. The luncheon was part of the State of Maryland's sister state program with the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. Kanagawa is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Honshū, Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. Officials from both governments attended the luncheon.

Dr. Stephen J. Anderson, commercial officer at the U.S. Export Assistance Center in Baltimore, began the luncheon with a PowerPoint presentation about investment opportunities in the Japanese market. He said that the best U.S. export prospects to Japan are in the areas of health care, biotechnology, tourism, and lifestyle products.

Douglas Kolodny-Hirsch, senior director at MaxCyte, Inc., next took the podium to describe how his business worked with the Kanagawa Office in Maryland to develop a business relationship with a Japanese company. The office aided MaxCyte, Inc. with travel grants, guides, and business contacts. Ken Oki, director of the Kanagawa office in Maryland, also spoke about the benefits U.S. businesses could gain from working with the office and exploring investment opportunities in Kanagawa, Japan.

Governor Matsuzawa from the Kanagawa Prefecture ended the luncheon with a presentation on business opportunities in Kanagawa. He described how Kanagawa was close to several major airports, rail lines, and shipping ports. He also explained that economic conditions in Kanagawa were ripe for investment. The Prefecture has a GDP of 265,353 million U.S. dollars which is higher than the GDP of Austria or other small countries. Governor Matsuzawa also talked about the financial incentives the Kanagawa Prefecture could offer U.S. businesses, such as financial subsidies, tax breaks, and technological support from the Kanagawa Industrial Technology Center.

To learn more about investment opportunities in the Kanagawa Prefecture, visit: http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/osirase/sangyo/invest_k/en/contents-04.html

To learn more about Maryland's sister state program, visit: http://www.sos.state.md.us/International/MDSSP.htm

▓ By Camille Hoff, MBA Candidate 2008, Smith Media Group