JETRO Topics

Opening of JETRO’s 47th domestic office in Nara Prefecture

December 2018

JETRO established its 47th domestic office in Nara Prefecture on November 12, and held an opening ceremony on December 19. Nara is home to a wealth of high-quality and internationally competitive products, including transportation equipment, plastics, medicine and textiles, as well as fine agricultural and livestock products such as persimmons, tea, strawberries, wood and Yamato chicken. In addition, the prefecture is located between the Osaka and Nagoya metropolitan districts, giving it excellent access to the Kansai Airport, the Osaka Port and the city of Nagoya. It also boasts an abundance of attractive historical, cultural and tourism resources.

JETRO Nara, which was opened in response to the request of the prefecture and local economic circles, will proactively assist local companies in expanding business overseas and contribute to the vitalization of the local economy with the motto; "Connecting Nara and the world, and publicizing its allure."

High expectations by Nara Governor

The opening ceremony was joined by 74 guests from local governments and economic circles. It included ranking officials, such as Nara Governor Shogo Arai, State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoshihiro Seki, Director-General of the Kansai Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry Kiyoshi Mori, Chairman of the Nara Prefectural Assembly Shoshi Kawaguchi, Chairman of the Nara Prefectural Association of Shinkin Banks Yoshiki Kawai, Chairman of the Federation of Nara Prefecture Chamber of Commerce and Industry and JETRO Nara Yasuo Ueno. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held, and Governor Arai gave an address, saying: "We will seek out companies with interest in expanding business overseas and refer them to JETRO Nara. We look forward to working together in supporting local companies to enter the overseas market and vitalizing the local economy."

Launching ceremony

Greeting by Chairman and CEO Ishige

Greeting by Governor Arai

Greeting by State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Seki

Congratulatory messages from Diet members at the reception

At the reception which was joined by 180 business people from local companies and industrial circles, JETRO Nara received messages with high hopes from Member of the House of Representatives Shigeki Kobayashi and Member of the House of Councilors Iwao Horii.

JETRO Nara will conduct activities focusing on the following pillars:

  1. Promotion of export of agricultural, forestry and food products, including fruit such as persimmons and strawberries, Yamato tea, Japanese sake and wood
  2. Assistance for expanding business overseas including in the fields of machinery, plastics, textiles, pharmaceutical products and processed food
  3. Facilitation of FDI into Japan, such as for factories and hotels, and expansion of inbound consumption
  4. Promotion of utilizing foreign human resources and support for startups

Greeting by Member of the House of Representatives Kobayashi

Greeting by Member of the House of Councilors Horii

Sake cask breaking ceremony