{"id":9843,"date":"2019-08-30T14:24:49","date_gmt":"2019-08-30T06:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.synergymediaspecialists.com\/?p=9843"},"modified":"2025-12-18T07:48:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T07:48:36","slug":"south-africa-and-japan-a-flourishing-good-hope-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sms-bridges.com\/staging\/south-africa-and-japan-a-flourishing-good-hope-partnership\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa and Japan \u2014 a flourishing \u2018Good Hope\u2019 partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today almost four hundred and fifty Japanese companies are doing business across Africa. Many companies (including Japanese automotive leaders Toyota and Nissan) are managing their operations from the continent\u2019s most industrialized and diversified economy – South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Norio Maruyama<\/strong>, Japan\u2019s Ambassador to South Africa  |  \u00a9 Japanese Embassy<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are one hundred and sixty Japanese companies operating in South Africa and most cover the African continent from here,\u201d says H.E. Norio Maruyama, Japan\u2019s Ambassador to South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs South Africa focuses on remaining competitive as a nation, companies are looking to Japanese manufacturers to create employment opportunities and develop employee-skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japanese companies have already created an estimated 150,000 jobs in the \u2018Rainbow Nation\u2019. In a recent study conducted by JETRO Johannesburg, South Africa was identified as the most important country in Africa for Japanese investment. Over sixty percent of Japanese companies in South Africa reported a 2018 surplus operating profit. In addition, increasing sales and revenue led to fifty three percent of companies reporting short-term export expansion plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith a population of nearly fifty million, the sheer size of the market represents tremendous opportunities and is one of the main attributes of doing business here,\u201d said Hiroyuki Nemoto, Executive Director of JETRO Africa Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRespondents to our survey identified communications, sufficient infrastructure and the ability to utilize the country as a gateway to the rest of the continent as the main advantages of doing business in South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifty-five members of the African Union share a combined gross domestic product of US$ 2.19 trillion and the Union\u2019s population of 1.3 billion is expected to double by 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Hiroyuki Nemoto<\/strong>, Executive Director of JETRO Johannesburg   |  \u00a9 Synergy Media Specialists<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

While major economies such as the United States, the United Kingdom and France lead the way in terms of African investment, Japan is increasing its engagement with Africa through the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD). Initiated by the Japanese government in 1993, today sees the final day of TICAD7 (the seventh conference) in Yokohama, Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeventy memorandum of understandings were signed between Japanese companies and African countries following the 2016 Conference held in Nairobi – the first TICAD to take place in Africa,\u201d said Nemoto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driving Japan-Africa exchange<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018Japan-Africa Public-Private Economic Forum\u2019 held in May 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa attracted 2,000 attendees and included 100 Japanese and 400 African companies. The Forum led to the signing of sixteen pan-Africa memorandum of understandings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Survey conducted Sept. 7 to Oct. 9, 2018 by JETRO Johannesburg<\/strong>. Response: 96 of 120 (80%) Japanese-affiliated companies in South Africa. <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In May of this year, the third Japan-South Africa Business Dialogue was held in Johannesburg and last month saw the \u2018Japan-South Africa CEO Business Roundtable\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThrough continued initiatives we anticipate more companies will come to South Africa to establish relationships and do business,\u201d said Nemoto. \u201cWe want to see the business environment improve here and encourage more Japanese companies to invest in South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has initiated a drive to attract US$100 billion worth of investments into the South African economy over the next five years. Since elected into office in February 2018, Ramaphosa has made inroads into Japan; he attended the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan and concluded his visit by participating in the \u2018Japan-South Africa CEO Business Roundtable\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We want to see the business environment improve here and encourage more Japanese companies to invest in South Africa.<\/p>Hiroyuki Nemoto<\/strong>, Executive Director of JETRO Johannesburg<\/span><\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are many areas for cooperation including the global \u2018Industry 4.0\u2019 initiative focusing on \u2018big data\u2019 and artificial intelligence,\u201d explained Maruyama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a priority for South Africa, as mentioned in President Ramaphosa\u2019s \u2018State of the Nation\u2019 address last February. As Ambassador, I want to strengthen ties between Japan and South Africa as politically, culturally and economically this year has been exceptional. People-to-people exchanges will continue to bring our two countries closer together and I am confident the business climate in South Africa will continue to improve and attract even more Japanese investment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

www.za.emb-japan.go.jp<\/a><\/strong>
www.jetro.go.jp\/southafrica<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today almost four hundred and fifty Japanese companies are doing business across Africa. Many companies (including Japanese automotive leaders Toyota and Nissan) are managing their operations from the continent\u2019s most industrialized and diversified economy – South Africa. \u201cThere are one hundred and sixty Japanese companies operating in South Africa and most cover the African continent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16007,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[277,292,259,1021,293,283],"tags":[518],"class_list":{"0":"post-9843","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-277","8":"category-articles","9":"category-bridging-japan","10":"category-editorial-south-africa","11":"category-editorial","12":"category-south-africa","13":"tag-editorial"},"yoast_head":"\nSouth Africa and Japan \u2014 a flourishing \u2018Good Hope\u2019 partnership - Bridges Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sms-bridges.com\/staging\/south-africa-and-japan-a-flourishing-good-hope-partnership\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Africa and Japan \u2014 a flourishing \u2018Good Hope\u2019 partnership - Bridges Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today almost four hundred and fifty Japanese companies are doing business across Africa. 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