Category: EU-Japan

  • Growing your business in Japan (video conference) 31 January 2023

    Growing your business in Japan (video conference) 31 January 2023

    Despite being the world’s third largest market, many businesses struggle to break into Japan. The “Growing your Business in Japan” free webinar, organized by the SCI’s Science and Enterprise Group and powered by LabLinks, will provide valuable insights into the challenges of growing a chemistry-facing business in the Japanese market, and how they can be overcome. 
     The host, Dr Alan Steven – Chief Scientist at CatSci Ltd and Co-founder of LabLinks, will be joined by: 

    Featuring speakers with pharma, intellectual property and entrepreneurship backgrounds, this webinar is a great opportunity to learn about the potential strategic pitfalls when entering the Japanese market and how Japanese culture can affect how a business performs in Japan.
    The free webinar will be held on Tuesday 31st January 2023 at 09:00 – 11:00 GMT

    Do not miss the opportunity to meet the speakers, network, participate in open discussions, and gain first hand knowledge on how to successfully enter the Japanese market. 

    You can access the programme here

    Growing your business in Japan (video conference) 31 January 2023
    Growing your business in Japan (video conference) 31 January 2023


    • How can a European company succeed in Japan’s energy landscape? (EU-Japan Gateway keynote)

      I was invited to give a keynote talk to about 50 European participants in the EU-Japan Gateway program, which assists small and medium sized European companies to enter the Japanese market.

      My topic was “How can a European company succeed in Japan’s energy landscape?”

      I explained Japan’s energy situation today, based on our reports:
      Renewable energy in Japan
      Japan’s energy sector

      followed by some advice on how a European company can succeed in Japan, covering the following points:

      • you often need a taylor made solution for Japan
      • you need to understand the market, market landscape, need to do your market research
      • you need to understand the value of your product/service in Japan’s market
      • you need working capital to build business in Japan, somebody needs to invest this working capital: you, your investors, or in some cases Japanese partners, each option has advantages and disadvantages
      • some common mistakes – why business development in Japan can fail
      • some steps towards success
    • Trends in high technology in Japan (EU mission on foreign direct investment in Japan)

      The EU-Japan Center for Industrial Cooperation held a 5-day intensive course in Japan for executives from EU firms between Monday 19th February – Friday 23rd February, 2007 on foreign direct investment in Japan.

      On Monday 19th February I gave a talk “Trends in high technology in Japan”, covering the following points:

    • New Opportunities versus old Mistakes: foreign companies in Japan’s high-tech world

      Gerhard Fasol gave a 2-3 hour executive training course for the Chalmers Advanced Management Programs (Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden)

      Title: “New Opportunities versus old Mistakes: foreign companies in Japan’s high-tech world”

      Executive training course in Global Technology Management for General Managers, Chief Engineers, Managing Directors, Vice Presidents of major Swedish corporations and multi-nationals (Ericsson, VOLVO, ABB, Telia etc)