BRUSSELS (Dow Jones)--Japan and the European Union agreed on Saturday to look into a free-trade pact, but their leaders stopped short of launching formal talks for the deal, which Japan sees as crucial for exports to its third-largest trading partner.
"We still have a long way to go, but the objective is now clear," EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy told reporters in Brussels after the summit. "Some might say we have not gone far enough, I say we should not underestimate the political meaning of our decision."
Van Rompuy said "the potential economic and political results of the decision are huge in terms of jobs, growth and shared destiny," if an agreement is reached after an initial "scoping exercise" designed to set the parameters of trade talks.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan agreed with Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to start "the process for negotiations" on a free trade pact, which will include discussions to decide the areas that such a deal would cover, a joint statement issued after their meeting said.
Japan had been keen to make headway on a free trade deal after South Korea sealed a deal with the Europeans. A trade pact between them is due to come into force in July, and Japanese businesses had been putting the pressure on Tokyo not to fall behind rival South Korea.
"We agreed to start the process towards negotiations on an economic partnership agreement," Kan told the joint news conference.
The EU currently imposes tariffs on Japanese cars and flat-panel TVs, Japan's key exports to the region that competes in global markets with South Korean rivals.
For Japan, any moves to help its export-led economy has gained a sense of urgency as it comes on the heels of the March 11 earthquake, which has disrupted production, pushed the trade balance into a deficit in April for the first time in 31 years, and the economy into a recession.
Japanese diplomats had expressed confidence of reaching some form of an agreement, but other officials had said that convincing the EU was a difficult task given that the trading block runs a deficit with Japan.
The scoping exercise will "set clearly the level of ambition for these negotiations and address the matters of concern," Barroso told reporters following the summit. "We are speaking about Japan, one of the biggest markets in the world, so this cannot fail."
He added that such an agreement is in the interests of both the 27-nation EU and Japan, and should tackle concerns such as public procurement rules and investment barriers for European companies.
"The Italians and the French are worried that a free trade pact would deal a blow to their car industry," a senior Japanese official said as Kan left for Europe earlier this week.
The EU had been urging Japan to remove nontariff barriers and increase public procurement, and in a bid to address such concerns, Kan had told members of his Cabinet to work on such issues before leaving for Europe last week.
Following the meeting, which took place in the Val Duchesse castle just outside Brussels, Kan said Japan would make efforts on the issue of nontariff barriers and government procurement.
"I am convinced that with such efforts, we can reach a final agreement that would have great meaning," Kan told the joint news conference.
Japan's economy contracted an annualized 3.7% in the January-March period, slipping into a recession as the earthquake dented domestic economic activity such as consumer spending and production, data released earlier this month showed.
Japanese officials stressed the importance of the agreement, noting that today's decision represented a change from the country's previous sentiment.
"At first, there was hardly an atmosphere that we would be able to enter Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations," Tetsuro Fukuyama, deputy cabinet secretary and Kan's top aide told reporters, referring to Kan's first meeting with the EU leaders a year ago.
Source: The Nikkei News, May 28, 2011
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry hopes to spur innovation in electronics by simplifying safety standards to levels seen in other countries. Currently, METI spells out production methods and materials separately for 454 electronics products, including the types and shapes of insulators between components. One performance standard requires refrigerators to withstand 1,000 volts over a minute, for example.
METI intends to first consolidate the product classifications into 10 or so broad groups, such as lamps and home cooking equipment. The new safety standards will specify just basic requirements, including the prevention of electricity leaks and consideration for the elderly, leaving manufacturers free to meet these standards however they choose.
The detailed safety rules in place now have hampered R&D, preventing the use of newly developed materials and techniques. But under the new rules, companies could use new materials right away as long as they meet basic combustibility and other standards. While the Japanese rules have resulted in safe products, manufacturers shoulder a heavy burden to comply. Europe, South Korea and other countries, by contrast, give firms more freedom to come up with original ideas.
METI hopes to revise ministerial ordinances under the Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Law around 2013. It intends to take similar steps for three other laws covering such products as lighters, gas ranges and baths. This would represent a radical shift in Japan's approach to product safety. METI intends to put the new rules into effect no earlier than a year after it revises relevant ordinances to secure enough time to notify corporations and consumers.
Source:The Nikkei May 24,2011
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party have struck a deal to extend key tax breaks slated to expire at the end of June.
Hirohisa Fujii, an advisor to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, and Takeshi Noda, chairman of the LDP's Research Commission on the Tax System, worked out a deal during a meeting Wednesday. To obtain the LDP's cooperation, the DPJ agreed to exclude tax proposals opposed by the LDP from bills to be submitted to the parliament during the current session.
The DPJ and the LDP plan to invite the opposition New Komeito party to hammer out a three-way agreement as early as this month. About 100 special tax revisions will be extended as a result, including measures to keep the corporate tax rate charged to smaller businesses at 18% instead of 22% and a break on the registration and license tax charged to home buyers.
Such measures were originally to expire at the end of March, but the government passed a stopgap bill to keep them through the end of June. Should they be allowed to expire this time, the rising tax burden could have a big impact on the public, a concern shared by both ruling and opposition lawmakers. The extension is expected to last through March 2012.
Meanwhile, the DPJ and opposition parties will continue to hold discussions about a proposed 5-percentage-point reduction in the effective corporate tax rate of 40% and the introduction of an environmental tax on fossil fuels such as crude oil and coal -- proposals the LDP opposes.
But the outlook is grim for passing those measures, given that the DPJ still needs to win over the opposition to pass legislation needed to issue deficit-covering bonds, which the government counts on to cover 40% of this fiscal year's budget.
Source:The Nikkei May 26,2011
Guangdong Province in China will set up the industrial Park in an attempt to attract Japanese small & medium sized companies to invest. The province doesn't pose the standard for the minimum investment amount and rents the building for factory in order to minimize the initial cost. Also the Japanese consulting companies deal the individual consultation for the labor issue and so on.
The first industrial park was founded in Foshan city. 3 companies signed the contract on May 25. These are 2 auto parts makers, Iida Industry Co.,Ltd.(Aichi pref.) and Ogawa Kogyo Co.,Ltd.(Hashimoto city, Wakayama pref.), and a power-generating facility part maker, Matsumoto Seisakusho Co.,Ltd.(Himeji, city, Hyogo pref.) The 3 of them will start operation in 2012.
Iida Industry Co.,Ltd. (http://www.orotex.co.jp/english/html/english-top.html) Ogawa Kogyo Co.,Ltd.( http://www.ogawa-industry.co.jp/) Matsumoto Seisakusho Co.,Ltd.( http://ma2moto-f.jp/corporate/index.html)
Guangdong Province is in progress to set up the similar park in Guangzhou city where many auto industry companies concentrate. In the Chinese coast area, lacking in industrial area, the initial cost will be about 300 million JPY- 5million JPY including the minimum investment amount to build factory and that discourage Japanese small & medium sized companies from investing in China.
Foshoan City set up a system to promote the investment from Japanese small & medium sized companies in cooperation with JETRO. Guangdong Province aims to stimulate local companies and to increase employments by calling in small & medium sized companies that has been assisting Japanese major manufacturers.
Source:The Nikkei May 26,2011
TOKYO (Nikkei)--A technical college backed by the governments of Japan and Malaysia is set to open in Kuala Lumpur this September, with 22 Japanese schools providing support for education in such fields as precision machinery and electronics.
This groundbreaking institution symbolizes the close cooperation between these two countries, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Thursday at the Future of Asia conference hosted by Nikkei Inc.
The Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology will also foster exchanges with students from Southeast Asia and Japan, as well as with Japanese companies operating in Malaysia. It could help promote Japanese technology and pave the way for more domestic firms to expand into the region.
The institute, which will operate under the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, will offer graduate and post-graduate degrees. It will take in about 130 students at first, with the number to go up to 2,000 in 2015. The faculty will include 40 or so teachers from such Japanese schools as Kyushu University, Tokai University and Ritsumeikan University.
Source:The Nikkei May 27,2011
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Japanese exports are likely to start improving moderately, but domestic production constraints and slowing overseas economies could hinder a full-fledged recovery anytime soon. Exports tumbled 12.5% on the year in April, the steepest fall since October 2009's 23.2% drop, leading to a 463.7 billion yen trade deficit. Disrupted supply chains and rolling blackouts in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake hobbled industrial output and put a dent in exports.
But with such problems dissipating, government data shows production will gradually recover. Export declines are likely to cease once manufacturing pulls out of its slump. And unlike previous export swoons, such as during the Lehman shock, China and some other overseas economies remain robust. However, Japan still faces obstacles before exports can return to pre-quake levels, given lingering uncertainties about how quickly supply chains can be fully restored.
For instance, Renesas Electronics Corp.'s microchip output, lost to the March earthquake after a key factory in Ibaraki Prefecture was damaged, is not expected to recover to its pre-quake level until late October. The factory made microcontrollers and system chips vital to many carmakers and other manufacturers around the world. "It may take until year's end for Japan's exports to return to pre-disaster levels," warns Taro Saito, a senior economist at NLI Research Institute.
Moreover, planned summer power shortages could hurt overall production activities and, by extension, exports. Another big risk is a downturn in overseas demand. "High gasoline prices and other factors may contribute to slowdown risks in the U.S. and European economies," says Ryutaro Kono, chief economist at BNP Paribas Securities (Japan) Ltd. Monetary tightening by China and others could also lead to decelerating growth in emerging markets.
Source:The Nikkei, May 26,2011
With business in a rut, major department stores are closing unprofitable shops and focusing more resources on their Tokyo flagships.
Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings announced May 12 that it will close a specialty outlet in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in March 2012. On the same day, H2O Retailing said it will shutter its Kobe Hankyu department store by September next year.
Isetan Mitsukoshi's Alcott shopping center in Shinjuku has a total of 13 floors, 20,000 sq. meters of sales space and counts foreign luxury brands among its tenants. Its sales for the year ended March 2011 were down about 5% on the year, to 11.4 billion yen.
Sales there have remained in a funk even after the building was changed in 2005 from a standard department store to a home for specialty boutiques. The entire building will be leased by electronics retailer Bic Camera Inc. Isetan Mitsukoshi President Ishizuka said the company will use the rental income "to renovate our flagship stores, such as the Isetan Shinjuku outlet and Mitsukoshi Nihombashi store."
H2O Retailing's Hankyu department store in Kobe has 33,000 sq. meters of sales space and opened in 1992. Its sales for the year ended March 2011 were down to 9.1 billion yen, less than half the peak.
In 2010, nationwide department store sales fell for the 14th-straight year, to about 6.29 trillion yen. Eleven stores closed that year, the most in the past decade. Three stores have already closed this year. Small stores in particular are losing their appeal and are proving hard to revive. Department store operators are determined to ride out the slump by funneling their resources into large stores in central Tokyo.
Sogo & Seibu Co. spent about 30 billion yen last year to renovate its flagship Seibu Ikebukuro department store in the capital's Toshima Ward. Isetan Mitsukoshi, meanwhile, added more sales space in September at its Mitsukoshi store in the city's Ginza district. The company is now planning major renovations at its two flagship outlets in Shinjuku and Nihombashi.
Despite the slump, the sales space of department stores nationwide is expected to expand by some 50% in three years starting from the end of last year - thanks to moves like the opening of JR Osaka Mitsukoshi Isetan and the expansion of Hankyu Umeda. But if consumer sentiment continues to stagnate in the wake of the March 11 disaster, more store closures are likely.
Source: The Nikkei Weekly May 23, 2011
Wearing high heels all day can tire the feet, not to mention pain them. Now pocketable shoes, fast becoming the next big thing in women's footwear, are offering some relief. They fold up and fit into a pouch for easy portability.
Portable room slippers have been around for some time, but fold-'em-up shoes are contemporary; they are designed just as well as regular shoes and can be worn outdoors. And they are all the rage, especially with their crossover appeal as knickknacks. Oh, they can serve as an emergency pair of shoes in a pinch, too.
At the Isetan department store in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, pocketable shoes have earned their own corner on the first floor. The shoes are adorned with ribbons and corsages, some are done up in lace or in bold leopard prints. They come from so many famous brands - Ralph Lauren, Fendi, Bally - that a casual onlooker might just think they are regular pumps. But on closer inspection, it becomes apparent that none of them have heels. The soles are made of anti-slip rubber nubs. The heel and toe areas are leather, but the sides are covered in cloth, making the shoes easy to fold in half for storage.
The insoles are done in a French seam, and the heels of the shoes are finished in elastic for the right fit, making it easy to get in and out of the shoes. They feel like ballet slippers in the way that they wrap snugly around the feet. A pair comes with a storage pouch. Most pouches are made of the same
material as the shoes; others come in suede, offering a high-end feel. They look like makeup bags and can be carried around on their own without drawing any attention. An external pocket contains a foldable tote bag for carrying regular shoes.
A little more elegant
Pocketable shoes are new and came about as a result of retailers listening to customers. The Isetan store kept getting asked if it carried portable flats that would be convenient for traveling. Last fall, the store released a test product in just one model. All 500 pairs sold in a month.
"The design was casual, so we got more feedback from customers who said they wanted something a little more on the elegant side, something with a brand name on it," a buyer said. The store approached 20 brands and collected 1,500 pairs. Despite the Great East Japan Earthquake and the slowdown in economic activity, in April, more than half of the shoes were sold.
The shoes are attracting a wide age demographic - women in their 20s to 60s. Said a 20-something office worker who often wears high heels: "Wearing heels all day can be tiring. And I can't bear to wear sneakers." Now she can pull out a pair of pocketables.
The shoes are great for work and travel, perfect to wear on a plane or bullet train. "My feet get swollen on airplanes," a 36-year-old university instructor said, "but my other shoes are usually in my suitcase. That's when these shoes come in handy."
"I wear higher heels when I attend weddings, and they can be dangerous on stairs," said a woman in her 30s. She wears her pocketables to and from wedding reception venues. The portable shoes are popular among mothers who use them for their children's school events. One of the more popular styles is a Ralph Lauren-designed pair of pocketables that look like loafers. They sold so well for celebrations marking the beginning of the new school year this spring that the Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. of the U.S. has decided to release these designed-for-Japan kicks in the U.S. come fall.
After the earthquake, more and more people have been buying pocketables as an emergency backup, anticipating long walks home, according to a department store source.
Pocketables are spreading to other department stores. The Seibu department store in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, Toshima Ward, has begun offering the British brand Butterfly Twists at its gift-shop section. The triangle-shaped package opens up to ballet slippers in pink, purple or other playful colors. They look like room slippers but are made for outdoor use. "They are popular as driving shoes or as gifts," a store official said.
Big hopes
Pocketables are also available as rain boots. "It's embarrassing when you go out wearing rain boots and then it clears up," said designer Mieko Sahara of shoemaker Ever Rite Japan KK. Boots can also take up too much space in an office locker.
The new option is faux leather enamel boots, which come in three lengths - long, half and short. They are soft and can be rolled up for easy storage and held together with a rubber band, which has a corsage attached to it. The corsage rubber band can also be worn around the boot ankle as an accessory. The inside of the polka-dot tote that comes with each pair is covered in water-resistant vinyl.
When they were released in March at the Isetan Shinjuku, the initial shipment of 230 pairs were quickly bought up. Orders came in immediately for 200 more pairs in what Isetan sources hope will be the first footwear series to hit it big in a long time. Starting at just over 8,000 yen ($97), pocketables are cheaper than shoes generally carried by department stores.
Source: The Nikkei Weekly May 23,2011
The Office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo, Japan
Source : http://www.depthai.go.th