Born in Sapporo Japan, studied in Keio University, Hokkaido University and the Université de Strasbourg, Koichiro Shimamori has been the chief representative of a leading Japanese company in Warsaw since 2020.
Bridges spoke with Koichiro on the dynamic and expanding relationship between Poland and Japan.
“Poland has a high standard of technical education, an abundance of talented youngsters and geographical convenience which are often the decisive factors for companies looking to establish a base in Poland.
Our company set up an office in Poland in February 2020; the first destination for its business expansion into Europe, where investments by global IT companies are quite active. In June 2019, I had a business trip to find a suitable location to establish a European office.
The trip took me around the Nordic region, the Baltics and to the Balkan States and built a network and conducted surveys in twelve countries. Every country in Central Eastern Europe (CEE) has advantages such as high-quality education, particularly in science, technology and mathematics, talented youngsters and cost benefits compared to Western and Northern Europe.
Poland is one the world’s most ‘Japanophile’ countries and Japan regards Poland as an important political and business partner and an important destination for business expansion into Europe.
Koichiro Shimamori
Education drives tech-talent
Recognising that Poland has the largest population in CEE and is in a geographically advantageous position in Eastern Europe, we established the business here. Poland has a population of approximately 38 million with a young generation.
The science and mathematics education that was emphasised during the socialist era is still strong, therefore Poland is continuing to produce excellent ‘tech-talents’. Companies are hiring outstanding young people who have tech-skills and are fluent in English.
Located in the centre of the Eastern part of Europe, the geographical position of Poland is hugely beneficial to companies and investors looking to work in Poland and across the region.
The capital city, Warsaw, allows companies to cover the Nordic region, the Baltic States in the north and the Balkan Peninsula in the south. Direct flights from Warsaw Chopin Airport to cities across Europe make connections easy and convenient.
Data analysis and cybersecurity solutions
It is important to connect Japan, Europe and information technology (IT) human resources. In recent years, Japan has been facing a serious shortage of IT human resources at the highest level.
Corporations require skilled employees, especially in the fields of data analysis and cybersecurity and competition for human resources has led to rising salaries. In order to address the shortage of skilled IT employees, many Japanese companies are reaching out to talent across Southeast Asia.
I believe Japanese companies should hire skilled workers from across the world (regardless of their Japanese language abilities) as remote work is becoming more common following the pandemic and auto-translation and artificial intelligence (AI) software is improving dramatically.
CEE-Japan Tech Conferences & Job Fairs
It is important that Japan increases its connections with European IT and AI industries and highly-skilled experts. The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) held ‘CEE-Japan Tech Conferences & Job Fairs’ in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria in 2022 and 2023.
This was the first initiative by the Government of Japan to organise such an event in CEE. I planned the programmes and content and cooperated with partner companies, emphasising the importance of Japanese companies reaching out to the young European tech talent pool.
Japan and Poland tighten their cultural ties
In Poland, we held events in the ‘Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology (PJAIT)’ in Warsaw and at the ‘Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology’ in Kraków.
Participating Japanese companies met highly-educated Polish students and several companies made offers of employment.
Poland is one of the many pro-Japanese countries and we see many synergies between our two countries and increasingly important possibilities for further cooperation are presenting themselves. Establishments related to Japan in Poland include:
- PJAIT, one of the important centres of computer science in Poland, was founded in 1994 with financial aid from JICA.
- Mangga Museum, opened in 1994 as an annex of Krakow National Museum, was created with significant support from film director Andrzej Wajda, Government of Japan and several Japanese companies and foundations. The building was designed by Arata Isozaki.
Frederic Chopin (1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849)
In terms of culture, Poland is the mother country of Frederic Chopin. Japanese people historically love the music of Chopin and many attended the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition in 2021.
Economic Drivers
The Poland-Japan economic and business relationship is strong. Japanese brands such as Toyota, Nintendo, Sony, Fujitsu, Yamaha and Uniqlo are popular in Poland.
However, we have to acknowledge that the influence of Japanese companies in Poland has unfortunately decreased in recent years with South Korea playing a larger role in the Polish economy. Korean companies are seizing business opportunities in Poland and in Ukraine in terms of reconstruction projects.
Korean businesses are efficient, with decisions being made quickly compared with Japanese companies. Since February 2020, I have enjoyed observing the economic, political and social metamorphoses and development of Poland.
Poland is not a ‘former-socialist country’ but a ‘major European country’ already with security ranking amongst the highest in the European Union.
Poland is one the world’s most ‘Japanophile’ countries and Japan regards Poland as an important political and business partner and an important destination for business expansion into Europe.
