OSAKA (Nikkei)--Panasonic Corp. (6752), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (7011) and a host of other big businesses are recruiting droves of foreigners for key positions in development, design and sales.
Panasonic intends to ramp up hiring of foreigners across the entire group by 50% to 1,100 by spring. From this fiscal year, some will be placed on executive tracks and will undergo up to two years of training in Japan. The electronics manufacturer plans to launch lower-priced items for the middle classes in India and China. Ahead of this, it is hiring engineers engaged in development and design in those nations.
Mitsubishi Heavy plans to hire some 4,000 foreigners at overseas group companies over the next five years, bringing the total for such workers to 15,000 by fiscal 2014. With a focus on power generation and air conditioning, the company will recruit engineers and factory workers. It aims to double overseas production to hike the proportion of orders from abroad to 63% in fiscal 2014, up from 49% at present. On the other hand, Mitsubishi Heavy will cap domestic hiring at 60% of current levels, adding an average of 2,000 workers a year between fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2014.
Top Japanese firms had been hiring foreigners mainly for local factory and office work. Hiring by strategic divisions has been rare because of differences with headquarters in terms of benefits, pay and other factors.But local engineers are indispensable for developing products with designs and specifications geared to the local market.
In China, Daikin Industries Ltd. (6367) will hire 160 workers by year's end to develop air conditioners, bringing its total staff to 200. The company aims to move away from its current setup of developing China-bound models in Japan and then changing their specifications to fit that market.
Toyo Engineering Corp. (6330) will recruit around 170 full-time engineers and other workers in India. The company generated some 70% of sales abroad last fiscal year. By beefing up benefits and other sweeteners, it has been able to secure top-flight engineers for designing plants for India and the Middle East. As of next spring, foreigners will account for 85% of group hires.
Fast Retailing Co. (9983) will devote half of the roughly 600 slots it has allocated for new college graduates to foreigners. The company is adding more Uniqlo casual wear stores in China, South Korea and elsewhere. With foreigners to be candidates for store managers in a few years, the bulk of the recruits will first be assigned to local outlets.
Source : The Nikkei June 15
NEW DELHI (Nikkei)--Suzuki Motor Corp. (7269) plans to boost its production capacity for passenger cars in India to 1.45 million units a year in 2012, topping its output in Japan for the first time, The Nikkei learned Tuesday.
Suzuki's local unit, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., will invest 2-4 billion yen this year to upgrade its two existing factories, bringing its capacity to 1.2 million units, up from about 1 million at present, according to President Shinzo Nakanishi.Suzuki operates an assembly plant outside New Delhi.
In addition, Maruti Suzuki is spending 17 billion rupees, or roughly 33 billion yen, to build its third Indian plant. Construction began in March, and the facility will have an output capacity of 250,000 units a year when it begins operations in spring 2012.
Suzuki's annual production capacity in Japan stands at around 1.4 million vehicles. The overall Indian passenger car market is projected to continue to grow about 14% a year, with sales seen doubling from the fiscal 2009 level to 4 million units in fiscal 2015. Indian sales grew 21% to more than 870,000 units on the popularity of such models as the Alto small car. The top automaker in India, Suzuki aims to maintain a majority market share amid intensifying competition.
Source : The Nikkei June 16
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The government will strengthen financial support for individuals starting new businesses or moving into new fields by making it easier for investment funds to qualify for public capital.
An independent agency under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry provides capital to public-private funds that support small and midsize firms. These funds must invest at least 70% of their total capital, regardless of the size of the agency's stake.
This restriction has been criticized as too onerous, given that small businesses are generally risky investments. The government has decided to allow funds receiving smaller amounts from the government to invest less of their money. A fund in which the agency holds a 25% stake, for example, will only have to invest 35% or more of its capital. A fund can qualify for capital from the agency as long as it makes investments equal to 40% more than the amount it receives. The government will also raise the ceiling on how much capital the agency can provide to a single fund to 6 billion yen from 3 billion yen.
These changes -- the first to the agency's regulations since it began disbursing capital in 1998 -- will take effect this summer. They are aimed at encouraging more private investment in small and midsize businesses. The agency has invested in about 130 funds, putting up a total of 250 billion yen in initial capital.
The government also plans to strengthen cooperation with regional financial institutions to provide integrated financing and business management support to small businesses. These measures will be incorporated into the new economic growth strategy due out this month.
Source : The Nikkei June 16
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Sales at foreign brand shops show signs of bottoming out, increasing around 10% from a year earlier since the start of the year at Cartier and Salvatore Ferragamo.
Some wealthy clients have returned, and the number of Chinese tourists has increased dramatically.But amid deflation, the overall atmosphere remains severe, with sales at French label Louis Vuitton and others short of the previous year's levels.
Salvatore Ferragamo's Japanese sales rose 8% from a year earlier in the Jan.-April period, the first increase since 2007. Cartier saw a 10% sales increase in April-May. Regular customers returned to those stores, and newly introduced, low-price products contributed to bringing in more customers.
At Cartier, purchases by Chinese customers have increased 10-fold for the past 3 years, now comprising almost 5% of all sales.Louis Vuitton's Japanese sales, seen at around 200 billion yen a year, remain sluggish for Jan.-March, marking a 7% decline from a year earlier.
Its main customers -- working women -- are still spending less. Though Louis Vuitton's sales have recovered since Jan.-March 2009, when they were down 18% from the previous year, the atmosphere has yet to fully recover.
Source : The Nikkei June 19 evening edition
The Office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo, Japan
Source : http://www.depthai.go.th