Cooperation and partnership
Sanbancho KS Bldg., 5F, 2-4 Sanbancho, Chiyoda-ku, 102-0075 Tokyo, Japan
Tel: 03-5276-9811 • Fax: 03-5276-8733
E-mail: info@dihkj.or.jp
Board Members
President: Arno Tomowski, ThyssenKrupp AG
Vice-President: Otto F. Benz, Lufthansa German Airlines
Vice-President: Gerd Tellbüscher, Wagner Spraytech Japan Ltd.
Ulrich Sieler, Evonik Degussa Japan Co., Ltd.
Manfred Hoffmann, Delegate of German Industry and Commerce in Japan
Hiroshi Akai, RATIONAL JAPAN CO., LTD.
Claudia Buholzer Rosenkranz, Munich Re Japan Services K.K.
Dr Ulrich Hanfeld, Otto Japan Inc.
Dr Karl Roeser, Merck Ltd.
Thomas Seidel, Freudenberg Representative Office Asia
Michael Spatz, C. Illies & Co., Ltd. (K.K. IRISU)
Dr Reinhold Otto Stapf, Dräger Medical Japan Ltd.
Herbert A. J. Wilhelm, Schenker-Seino Co., Ltd.
A distinctive feature of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan (GCCIJ) is its part in a worldwide institutional German network for foreign trade promotion and corporate support. The organisation has 120 offices in 80 countries and provides professional services under the brand “DEInternational”. GCCIJ executive director, Manfred Hoffman also represents the main German business institutions in Japan. “We are a chamber made up of members,” he says, “but at the same time we function as an official German service organisation offering support to companies, investors, business associations and other institutions active in the bilateral economic relationship between Germany and Japan. The strong advantage of that is being able to use the day by day experience of companies here in Japan to advise those not yet present.”
The GCCIJ has nearly 500 members, making it the third-largest foreign chamber of commerce in Japan. The main industries represented in the membership include chemical, pharmaceutical, automotive, automotive suppliers and machinery.
Hoffmann points to several sectors with particular potential for German companies, such as environmental technology, food and food processing machinery. Another is healthcare technology. “I think this is a very interesting field to learn from each other because both our countries have the same challenge of an ageing society,” says Hoffmann.
At the heart of the chamber’s work is facilitating cooperation between Germany and Japan, even in areas where rivalry might be considered more usual, such as research and development. An example is the German Innovation Award, which is granted by a group of 12 major German companies to young Japanese researchers.
“The idea is to increase cooperation between German companies and universities or other scientific organisations in Japan. It is in the interest of Japanese institutions to learn from the German side, to find partners to increase their network, to sell patents,” says Hoffmann.
“There are many fields where one nation is better than the other, or where one could learn from the other one. But of course, if you don’t identify a win-win situation, there will be no cooperation.”
The chamber is also keen to encourage Japanese companies to visit Germany’s huge and numerous trade fairs which attract visitors and exhibitors from all over the world, plus hundreds of journalists. “Japanese companies can see their competitors; they can see the development of the market and the development of technology,” says Hoffmann. “And, of course, they can increase their network, using all those people from all over the world.”
An important part of the chamber’s work is promoting Germany as a location for Japanese investment. Hoffmann identifies two main merits for Japanese firms. The first is location. Much like Japan is a hub for Asia, Germany has “perfect infrastructure and is at the geographical centre of Europe”. From Germany, companies can easily reach clients both in western and eastern Europe. The second is the strength of German research and development, and the chance to be near German universities and research centres.
In the same way, the GCCIJ also energetically promotes Japan to German companies. “The main advantages are reliability, of course – and a very strong and large market,” says Hoffmann. “Japan is still number two in the world.”
“Another point, which is sometimes underestimated,” he adds, “is that being in Japan is not only important for the Japanese market, but also to prepare business with Japanese companies in other countries. For example, a German company that wants to do business with Toyota in Brazil would find it useful to maintain contact with Toyota here.”
Globalisation – in a word – is also one reason why EBC membership is an important tool for the GCCIJ. “To underline the point,” says Hoffmann, “we recognise the EBC as our trade policy arm. We support the EBC in our role as a main stakeholder, and we recognise that all those lobby activities should be concentrated on a European level and not a national level. The EBC is an important partner for us.”