Mr. Yoshiki Onoi, Executive Senior Fellow, J-POWER (Electric Power Development Co., Ltd.)

After our company transitioned from a government-owned special corporation (*) for domestic electricity to a listed private company in 2004, we joined FEC as part of our overseas electricity investment activities.

*Special Corporations: These are corporations established for the public good and function as administrative agencies of the government. Based on the "Outline of Administrative Reform" of 2000 and the Basic Law on Reform of Special Corporations, etc. enacted in 2001, special corporations were tasked with reforming all aspects of their operations and organizations, including abolition and privatization, with the aim of transforming into administrative organizations and systems suitable for the new era, and with the basic principle of "entrusting to the private sector what can be entrusted to the private sector."

Aside from specific sales activities in the power sector overseas, I am very attracted to the opportunity to participate in business seminars arranged by FEC, led by ambassadors from various countries stationed in Tokyo.

The FEC field visit mission provided me with an extremely valuable opportunity to hear directly from ministers about the country's broad policy package, and especially the key points of its energy policy.

Individuals from each respective field will also have the opportunity to meet with the relevant ministers. Furthermore, it is a valuable opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of business in the country through interaction with other members from companies active in various sectors within Japan.

I personally participated in several Vietnam missions, and on two of those occasions, I served as the mission leader.

On one occasion, while visiting an industrial park near Hai Phong (a port city in northern Vietnam), I was surprised to be interviewed by a local television station. We were warmly welcomed by individual local companies, and I realized that economic missions from Japan are attracting more attention than we had imagined. During this visit, we also had quite in-depth discussions with participants from the same industry, and I think that after the visit, the group members gained a much clearer understanding of what it means to do business in the region.

FEC's various events and local missions, which target overseas markets across a wide range of countries and industries, attract participants ranging from startups to large corporations. I believe that the broader understanding of local economies and societies gained through such communities is invaluable.

What is distinctive about FEC's activities is that in Japan, it provides frequent opportunities for meetings with ambassadors from various countries stationed in Tokyo, and in the countries visited, it offers convenient arrangements from local embassies and diplomatic missions in Japan that are not limited to specific fields but cover all sectors.

This is highly recommended not only for companies that have already expanded overseas, but also for startups aiming to develop businesses in new fields, and for those in charge of overseas operations.

For those planning future-oriented businesses through connections with overseas markets, as well as for companies that have already expanded into those markets, the opportunity to directly participate in high-key and in-depth dialogues with central governments and various sectors at seminars and on-site missions organized by FEC at embassies in Tokyo, together with various member companies, will be invaluable in exploring the new business scenes that are expected to emerge in the future.