Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie Française du Japon (CCIFJ)
Iida Bldg, 2F, 5-5 Rokubancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0085
Tel: 03-3288-9624 Fax: 03-3288-9558
E-mail: direction@ccifj.or.jp
Executive Committee
President: Bernard Delmas, Nihon Michelin Tire
1st Vice-President: Michel Théoval, Thales Japan
2nd Vice-President: Hisataka Nobumoto, Akebono Brake Industry
3rd Vice-President: Philippe Dalpayrat, Dalpayrat Foreign Law Office, Tokyo
4th Vice-President: Serge Villatte, Rhodia Japan
5th Vice-President: Christian Polak, KK SERIC
General Secretary: François-Xavier Lienhart, Saint-Gobain Isover Japan (MAG)
Treasurer: François Jackow, Air Liquide Japan
A historic relationship
As well as being the oldest foreign business chamber, the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan (CCIFJ) is second in size only to the American chamber. Founded in 1918, its first members were French silk trading companies. Today the chamber has 552 members, including 45 sponsor companies.
“There is an old relationship between our countries,” says Honorary President Michel Lachaussée*. “Many Japanese are Francophile or Francophone,” he adds, noting that France tends to be associated with its cultural exports such as luxury goods, fine food and fine wine. “We want to keep this image, but also develop the image of industry, such as nuclear energy and high-speed trains. France is the second largest investor in Japan.”
The chamber’s membership covers those sectors and more. “We have a little bit of everything,” says Lachaussée. “We have the luxury brands, the big French banks, food, pharmaceuticals and car equipment manufacturers.”
One member of note is insurer AXA, with about 10,000 employees the largest French employer in Japan. Another major member is Eurocopter, which has 50% of the Japanese civil helicopter market. “Even the emperor uses a European helicopter,” says Lachaussée. French companies like AREVA are involved in Japan’s large and advanced nuclear industry. Other prominent members include Danone, MCDecaux and sanofi-aventis.
The chamber organises 90 or so events annually, in which last year 5,000 people took part, including 650 guests at a gala dinner in November. The menu was overseen by Michelin-star chef Patrick Jeffroy, while entertainment came from Patrick Bruel, a French singer and actor.
Solid support
The CCIFJ offers a range of support to French companies seeking to invest in Japan. “The biggest problem for companies is non-tariff barriers,” says Lachaussée. “Then there is understanding the distribution system, the language barrier, the specific Japanese standards and norms, and coping with the demanding quality expectations of Japanese customers.
“When you start your company, recruitment is the problem. Japanese employees hate risk so they want to work for a famous Japanese company or large well-known foreign companies, not normally a small, relatively unknown foreign company.” To help, the chamber maintains a database of more than 1,500 bilingual and trilingual candidates.
The recession badly affected automobile and electronics companies among the chamber’s members, many of whom supply Japanese car companies. “Like all the chambers, last year in April and May we were very afraid of what would happen before the end of the year,” says Lachaussée.
But the membership numbers remained stable, no doubt thanks to the chamber adjusting its services to a recession environment: offering special seminars on HR, advice on managing staff, and advice on downsizing when necessary. “We are here to help our members, to be close to them and answer their needs,” stresses Lachaussée.
He describes the French chamber as a “very strong supporter” of the EBC. “Japan is the only country in the world where national European chambers delegate their lobbying activities for better market access to a joint chamber that they created,” he notes. “It is a fantastic solution.
“Our recent EBC presidents have raised the European chamber’s profile to the same level as the US chamber. It is not something that even the large chambers can do by themselves.”