| 2003 Fiscal
Report of the Research Committee on "Global Strategy for
Japanese Eco Businesses" |
| This article is to outline the summary
of the captioned committee report upon its completion. |
Summary
Japanese eco-businesses have lost profitability due to the excess
competition among Japanese companies, and severe price competition
with Korean and local companies. Their business practices also tend
to concentrate on the sales of hardware, while holding weaker foundation
to compete in software. They are apt to rely heavily on the availability
of public funds such as Yen loans, and as a result have developed
the tendency to take in higher costs and excess specification. Their
ability to transmit information, to conduct local survey, and to manage
risks are weaker. While European and American eco business companies
are trying to conquer East Asian market through strategic approaches,
Japan remains with underdeveloped system to cross-cuttingly aggregate,
mutually link, and mobilize the broader range of measures, including
study and survey, technology transfer promotion, human resource development,
and financial assistance.
What Japanese eco-businesses need to do is to improve profitability
by developing product qualities conforming to the local needs, promoting
localization, and increasing product marketability with enhanced customer
satisfaction, with the consideration to the national situation of
each country in a different developmental stage. It will be also important
to share the vision and strategic significance of the technological
cooperation with the East Asia as a whole. Moreover, Japan needs to
secure the trust of other countries by presenting an "all Japan"
proposal to solve issues covering system software export and the issues
of upstream..
Furthermore, Japan must cooperate with universities and aid agencies,
recruit local experts, obtain information through the support for
local survey activities and decision-making on environmental policies,
and educate people who may have know how on environmental service
sector. If Japan is to export the tools of environmental marketing
using IT, business models for environmental burden reduction, the
methods of environmental education, and a model for environmentally
conservative lifestyle, thereby providing the benefits of environmental
burden reduction and the improved quality of life for developing countries,
then it will be the greatest contribution to the international community.
In addition, one must not forget that that the greening led by the
private companies, the fundamental review of management policies,
and the concept of business executives will accelerate the reform.
Environmental cooperation is a key element of efforts to develop closer
partnership between different nations. It is preferable to further
promote exporters' efforts for market development by stressing the
importance of national interests in aid policies. Concerning the governmental
development aids, Japan should design and develop projects conforming
to the needs of Japanese companies. Deregulation to enable the shift
of focus from request-by-partner type to Japanese-Government-proposing
type aids will be preferred to allow Japan play a leading role in
JI and CDM. The greening of financial functions to value environmental
conservation and to promote environmental consideration among companies
will have a significant role, also. moreover, it will be essential
to fully publicize information at every level, and to make it clear
to developing countries the availability of Japanese environmental
technology, for which Japan has the strongest edge. Today, Japan is
at the turning point in review of its total strategy, from the pursuit
of individual appropriateness to the adoption of overall appropriateness.
List of Research Committee members
| Chair: |
|
Dr. Ryoichi Yamamoto |
Professor, Center for Collaborative Research,
University of Tokyo |
| Committee Members |
|
Dr. Terue Ohashi |
The International School of Economics
and Business Administration, Reitaku University |
|
Junya Kisanuki |
Director, International Projects Department,
NEDO |
|
Michikazu Kojima
|
Research Fellow, Development Studies
Department, Institute of Developing Economies, JETRO |
|
Hideki Nakahara |
Professor, Faculty of Environmental &
Information Studies, Musashi Institute of Technology |
|
Yoshio Nakamura |
Director, Asian Cooperation Division
Trade and Economic Cooperation Department, JETRO |
|
Atsuro Ban |
Deputy General Manager, Electric Machinery
Plant & Project Business Unit, Mitsui & CO,LTD |
|
Norihisa Hoshino |
General Manager, Plant Coordination Group
International Trade Administration Division, Japan Machinery
Center for Trade and Investment |
|
Masanao Maeda |
Director General, Policy Planning Department,
Development Bank of Japan |
|
Toshiya Murata |
Deputy General Manager, Business Development
Planning Office, Chiyoda Corporation |
|
Yoichi Morita |
Managing Director, Fujikasui Engineering
Co, Ltd. |
| Lecturer |
|
Eisuke Kumano |
President, Amita Co., Ltd. |
| Observer |
|
Hirotochi Kunitomo |
Director, Environmental Industries Office,
Environmental Policy Division, Industrial Science and Technology
Policy and Environment Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Industry |
|
Hisanori Nei |
Director, Technical Cooperation Division,
Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry |
|
Tsutomu Murasaki,
|
Director, International Projects Promotion
Office, Industrial Machinery Division, Manufacturing Industries
Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry |
| Secretariat |
|
Kotaro Kimura |
Executive Director, Global Industrial
and Social Progress Research Institute |
|
Shozaburo Honne |
Director, Secretary General, Global Industrial
and Social Progress Research Institute |
|
Hiroshi Odawara |
General Manager, Global Environment Department, |
| (As of March 31, 2004) |
Contents of the Report
| Chapter 1 |
|
Summary by the Chair (Chairman Yamamoto) |
| Chapter 2 |
|
Contribution to International community
through environmental marketing using IT (Committee Member Ohashi) |
| Chapter 3 |
|
NEDO's international projects and global
strategy of eco businesses (Committee Member Kisanuki) |
| Chapter 4 |
|
Human resource development to carry out
the collaboration between industries, government, academics
and NGOs (Committee Member Kojima) |
| Chapter 5 |
|
For building a circular society in Asia
- Mainly with recycling (Committee Member Kojima) |
| Chapter 6 |
|
Environmental measures of private companies
and their social acceptance (Committee Member Nakahara) |
| Chapter 7 |
|
Support for system introduction - Cases
of Thailand and Indonesia (Committee Member Nakamura) |
| Chapter 8 |
|
Project Risks - Their analysis and countermeasures
(Committee Member Ban) |
| Chapter 9 |
|
Waste Treatment in Asian region (Committee
Member Hoshino) |
| Chapter 10 |
|
Greening of financial functions and environment-considerate
finance (Committee Member Maeda) |
| Chapter 11 |
|
To build infrastructure to create eco
market (Committee Member Murata) |
| Chapter 12 |
|
Overseas deployment of environmental
engineering (Committee Member Morita) |
| Chapter 13 |
|
Treatment Companies in the South East
Asia (Lecturer Kumano) |
|
|
