~ With the yen constantly weakening and national policy to support overseas expansion now underway,Exports will revive the Japanese economy

 

STANDAGE Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Adachi Akinori) held a new export promotion event, "STANDAGE DAY 2024," at Otemachi Sankei Plaza on August 29, 2024.

 

On the day, a variety of content was presented, including speeches by Diet member Hiroshi Nakata, who is at the forefront of supporting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and their overseas expansion, and by Nobukatsu Komatsu, president of Komatsu Suisan Co., Ltd., which has been successful in overseas expansion for over 15 years, as well as interviews to commend small and medium-sized enterprises that have achieved remarkable success in overseas expansion. Through these and other sessions, the day was filled with excitement, with the venue filling up at one point with speeches in several sessions, including a panel discussion.

 

<Scenes from the venue>

 

　In these times when the persistently weak yen has increased companies' interest and desire to expand overseas and national support is beginning to take shape, this event aims to educate companies on the usefulness of export policies and the possibility of them creating growth opportunities by providing information from a multifaceted perspective.

 

Agenda

1. Opening remarks (STANDAGE Co., Ltd. President and CEO Akinori Adachi)

2. Lecture 1: Trade promotion for SMEs and medium-sized enterprises from the perspective of economic and industrial policies (Mr. Hiroshi Nakata, Member of the House of Councillors, National Proportional Representation District Representative)

3. Lecture ② | About the 10,000 New Exporters Support Program (Mr. Keita Sukai, Overseas Expansion Support Office, Management Support Department, Small and Medium Enterprise Agency)

4. Lecture 3: The CEO of Asia's No. 1 whitebait company with 20 years of overseas expansion talks about the encouragement of small and medium-sized enterprises to export overseas (Mr. Nobukatsu Komatsu, President and CEO of Komatsu Suisan Co., Ltd.)

5. Lecture 4 | Panel discussion | The importance of overseas expansion for companies and how to overcome the barriers (Mr. Sho Yamaguchi, Director, Inter Holdings Co., Ltd. / Mr. Tsutomu Ando, Director, Hadras Holdings Co., Ltd. / Mr. Shingo Kashino, Managing Director, Kashino Management Co., Ltd.)

6. STANDAGE "Marunage Trading" Service Introduction (STANDAGE Co., Ltd. Executive Vice President Omori Kenta)

7. Lecture ⑤ | Awards and interviews for five companies that have successfully expanded overseas

8. Closing remarks (STANDAGE Co., Ltd. President and CEO Akinori Adachi)

 

 

■Event details (excerpts)

1. Opening remarks | STANDAGE Co., Ltd. President and CEO Akinori Adachi | I want to turn the anxiety of expanding overseas into confidence

 

<Presentation by Akinori Adachi, CEO of STANDAGE Co., Ltd.>

 

We believe that trade is extremely important for Japan, an island nation. What is important is to deepen cooperation between the public and private sectors, boost trade, and increase Japan's national strength. Today is an opportunity to obtain information and know-how that is not usually available, and we hope that it will help turn any anxiety you may have about expanding overseas into confidence.

 

 

2. Lecture 1: "Trade promotion for SMEs and medium-sized enterprises from the perspective of economic and industrial policy" | Mr. Hiroshi Nakata, Member of the House of Councillors, National Proportional Representation District

 

<Appearance by Hiroshi Nakata, Member of the House of Councillors and Representative of the National Proportional Representation District>

 

In Japan, the traditional techniques of small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly in the manufacturing industry, are at an extremely high level compared to other countries. There is no doubt about this. If that is the case, we should make great inroads into overseas markets.

 

The other day, I visited a company in Shiga Prefecture that manufactures Buddhist altars, and they told me that while the number of single-person households, especially the elderly, is increasing these days, the number of households that are installing new Buddhist altars is not increasing, and the layout of houses is not getting larger. In other words, people are moving away from Buddhist altars, but the altars they make are truly beautiful and wonderful. I was also surprised when I heard the prices, and there was even an altar that cost 30 million yen.

 

It's a rather expensive item, and there may be a limit to selling it domestically as a Buddhist altar. However, if it were sold overseas as highly artistic interior decor, there may be a wider demand. However, even if Buddhist altar manufacturing companies wanted to export right away, they don't have the know-how. That's where companies like STANDAGE come in to help.

 

Let me also mention one more thing about the surrounding environment from a public standpoint. According to Cabinet Office estimates, the export trend of small and medium-sized enterprises is 21.2% in fiscal 2020. This is an increase of 1.5 points over the past 10 years. However, the proportion of large enterprises has increased by 3.2 points over the same period to 28.3%. In other words, the gap between small and medium-sized enterprises and large enterprises is widening. So what about their share of exports? Currently, small and medium-sized enterprises account for 7%, with the remaining 93% being large enterprises.

 

In addition, when comparing with other countries, although there are some differences in the way they are grouped, Japan ranks low when compared with the average of so-called OECD countries. When comparing the percentage of exporting companies divided into two groups, those with 250 or more employees and those with 50-249 employees, and looking at the OECD, the difference between small and medium-sized enterprises and large companies is remarkable. The difference between the two is 10.9 points in the average countries, but in Japan it is 25.2%. In other words, the difference in the percentage of exporting companies between relatively large companies and small companies is even larger compared to other countries.

 

However, to put it another way, the world is still not aware of the excellent technologies and products that Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises have. This means that there is a great opportunity and still much room for growth.

 

Shiitake mushrooms are currently very popular overseas. The reason behind this is vegan and vegetarian diets. However, most of the shiitake mushrooms that these people know are grown indoors on mushroom beds. Meanwhile, in Japan, log cultivation is also popular. This is where Sugimoto Shoten's log-grown shiitake mushrooms have found a business opportunity, and are accepted by buyers as being of great value.

 

As you can see, there are many technologies and products that are attractive to overseas markets that we are not aware of. I hope that you will actively take advantage of export opportunities and become a driving force in revitalizing our country's economy. The government is also putting efforts into this, so please make use of them and I hope that they will lead to your own development.

 

 

4. Lecture 3: "20 years of overseas expansion: The representative of Asia's No. 1 whitebait company talks about the encouragement of small and medium-sized enterprises to expand overseas" | Komatsu Suisan Co., Ltd. President and CEO Nobukatsu Komatsu

 

<Presentation by Mr. Nobukatsu Komatsu, President and CEO of Komatsu Suisan Co., Ltd.>

 

Our company is based in Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and has local subsidiaries in Thailand and Vietnam, and we established a base in Dubai in April this year. We are probably planning to open a base in Estonia in March next year.

 

In Japan, we mainly manufacture and sell whitebait, as well as other processed seafood products such as dried fish. We sell to major supermarkets nationwide, and also supply to food service companies and school lunch providers. Our signature product is "Honki no Shirasu." This product has won the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award and is so popular that it has been selected as a gift for the Emperor.

 

As for overseas business, in addition to importing and exporting Japanese food products in Thailand, we have purchased approximately 23,000 m2 of land there, where we are producing processed products such as whitebait and dried fish, as well as beef tongue. We also want to expand our consulting business in the future. We are focusing on a system that can provide a wide range of assistance, such as visa applications and food license registrations. In addition to Japanese food products, we also operate restaurants in Vietnam, and operate an eel restaurant called "Yugatei Mutsuan" in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

 

The trigger was not a desire to sell whitebait overseas, but the problem of whitebait resource depletion. I thought that things couldn't continue like this, so I started to move in the hope of finding an overseas base. Because whitebait move in warm currents, Asia would be the best place. After visiting various countries such as China, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia, I ended up in Thailand.

 

As Professor Nakata mentioned earlier, I think that a declining population is also a big issue in Japan. In that respect, the global market had already doubled in 10 years at that time, and the market in Southeast Asia had tripled. This high potential was also a reason for deciding to enter Thailand.

 

That was about 15 years ago, so isn't it even more important now to turn our eyes to the world? However, there are probably many people who understand the situation but are hesitant because they don't know what to do. That's where STANDAGE can help.

 

However, just because you have signed a contract with STANDAGE doesn't mean you can sell. What they will support you with is the know-how of selling systems and methods. Our dream is for you to be able to export a lot in two years. It is difficult to develop a market on your own. In that case, we can do things like letting you use our sales channels and licenses.

 

What's important is what happens after you open the store. Opening the store isn't the end, it's how much you can move forward from there and how well you can convey your thoughts. Both STANDAGE and we have a lot of know-how and connections. We believe that whether we can convey our thoughts clearly to those who make the products and those involved in distribution will determine the final result.

 

 

5. Lecture 4: Panel discussion: "The importance of overseas expansion for companies, the barriers to doing business, and how to overcome them"

Mr. Sho Yamaguchi, Director, Inter Holdings Co., Ltd.

Hadras Holdings Co., Ltd. Director Tsutomu Ando

Shingo Kashino, Managing Director, Kashino Management Co., Ltd.

Kenta Omori, Vice President, STANDAGE Co., Ltd. (Facilitator)

 

<Panel discussion>

 

<Theme 1 | "What led you to expand overseas?">

 

Mr. Yamaguchi |Our strength is in our patented vacuum technology, and we hold a patent for a back valve in particular. To put it simply, we bought the patent from the developer who developed the technology used in soy sauce bottles, and we are a unique company that vacuums a variety of things, including sake, wine, olive oil, and rice.

As for expanding overseas, we know that this technology itself can be used for Japanese food and beverages. For example, the taste of alcohol does not change at all even after more than a month has passed since it was opened. This has been highly praised by sake brewery master brewers and wine sommeliers, and we would like to use this technology to export Japanese food products overseas. We would like to start such a project in the future.

Furthermore, from the very beginning, when we were purchasing the patents, we had been negotiating with a global perspective, and since we are a small company with only five employees, there was no opposition to our expanding overseas.

 

Mr. Ando |Our company's product is a glass coating agent. In addition to the basic performance of glass coating, such as making it stain and scratch resistant, our strength is that by combining various materials, we can impart valuable functions.

From the beginning, we have had our sights set on overseas markets, and our company president and the people on-site were particularly enthusiastic. We are currently working on coating trains in Europe. This may come as a surprise to people in Japan, but graffiti damage to trains is huge in Europe and the United States. A Spanish railway company that we work with spends 4 billion yen a year to remove graffiti. There are cases where applying our coating to trains has significantly reduced cleaning costs.

 

<Theme 4 | Advice for companies considering expanding overseas>

 

Mr. Yamaguchi |I'm not in a position to say anything arrogant, but I think it's best to leave it to the experts. There are many export professionals in the world, and STANDAGE is one of them. I think most companies are run by a small number of people with limited resources, so I think it's best to rely on those you can rely on and invest that time and human resources into making good products.

 

Mr. Kashino |Starting new initiatives is extremely important for small and medium-sized enterprises, and we want to support them in taking on new challenges. When talking to tax accountants and accountants, they often tell us not to spend money or to refrain from investing, but taking on new challenges is essential for running a business.

As the saying goes, "let the experts do it," but if you're trying to gain new sales channels through exports, it's best to leave it to the professionals. I think it's important to think positively about how to compete in the current domestic market in order to secure the costs.

 

 

7. Lecture 5: Awards and interviews for 5 companies expanding overseas | 5 companies selected from approximately 250 partner companies in each category were awarded

 

<Presentation by Go Yanagawa, Grand Prize winner, Fuji Bussan Co., Ltd., Kochi Branch, Planning and Development Office>

 

We are a general trading company based in Shizuoka City, and one of our businesses is eels. We were looking for overseas expansion as we were trying to develop it as halal food, and we met STANDAGE at an African business event held in Osaka. It has only been a little over half a year since we started, so things are not going as we had hoped, but we are very grateful that they have helped us with areas that we are not good at, such as marketing and PR. As for our future prospects, we are involved in everything from upstream to downstream, such as eel farming, processing, and sales, so we would like you to understand and be interested in the overall business. Ultimately, we would like to cooperate with companies that want to operate eel farms or process and sell eels overseas.

 

<List of award-winning companies>

Well-Being Category Award	Asano Suisan Co., Ltd. Managing Executive Officer Ryusho Asano
Cool Japan Category Award	Onkyo Corporation Corporate Planning Department Manager Toru Hayashi
Online Development Category Award	Saori Kitamoto, President and CEO of CARENESS Co., Ltd.
Branding Category Award	Feliz Te' Co., Ltd. Managing Director Yara Kiyoshi
Grand Prize	Fuji Bussan Co., Ltd. Kochi Branch Planning and Development Office Mr. Tsuyoshi Yanagawa

*Some people will be absent on the day due to the effects of Typhoon No. 10.

 

■Outline of "STANDAGE DAY 2024"

Date and time	Thursday, August 29, 2024 13:30-17:00
Target Audience	・Managers and managers of small and medium-sized enterprises aiming to expand overseas ・Managers and managers of manufacturing and wholesale businesses considering exporting ・Managers and managers of small and medium-sized enterprises who are struggling with overseas expansion efforts ・All other businesses and people involved in trade and overseas expansion
Organizer	STANDAGE Co., Ltd.
venue	Otemachi Sankei Plaza (1-7-2 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
Participation Fee	free
Speakers	Member of the House of Councillors, Representative of the National Proportional Representation District, Hiroshi Nakata Mr. Keita Sukai, Overseas Expansion Support Office, Management Support Department, Small and Medium Enterprise Agency Mr. Nobukatsu Komatsu, President and CEO of Komatsu Suisan Co., Ltd. Mr. Sho Yamaguchi, Director, Inter Holdings Co., Ltd. Hadras Holdings Co., Ltd. Director Tsutomu Ando Shingo Kashino, Managing Director, Kashino Management Co., Ltd. STANDAGE Co., Ltd. President and CEO Akinori Adachi Kenta Omori, Executive Vice President, STANDAGE Co., Ltd.
Winners	Asano Suisan Co., Ltd. Managing Executive Officer Ryusho Asano Onkyo Corporation Corporate Planning Department Manager Toru Hayashi Saori Kitamoto, President and CEO of CARENESS Co., Ltd. Feliz Te' Co., Ltd. Managing Director Yara Kiyoshi Fuji Bussan Co., Ltd. Kochi Branch Planning and Development Office Mr. Tsuyoshi Yanagawa
Special website	https://boueki.standage.co.jp/standage-day/

 

■We will take care of all your trade | Trade agency service "Marunage Boeki"

STANDAGE will support you with all the tasks necessary for successful overseas expansion.

We provide one-stop support for trade operations, including exporting, expanding sales channels, and developing sales channels.

 

Due to the recent sustained depreciation of the yen and the government's efforts to expand exports, Japan's overall export volume has been on a gradual upward trend. However, when looking at the export volume of small and medium-sized enterprises in urban and rural areas, the gap is still widening.

 

We provide a package service that handles all trade from market development to contracts, negotiations, settlements, and logistics, so that small and medium-sized manufacturers in Japan can expand overseas more freely and easily. As of August 2012, the number of companies using our service has reached 250.

 

For more information:https://standage.co.jp/service/marunage/

 

■Company Profile

Company name: STANDAGE Co., Ltd.

Established: March 7, 2017

Representative: Representative Director and CEO Akinori Adachi

Address: 4F Sumitomo Shibadaimon Building 2, 1-12-16 Shibadaimon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0012

Business description: Development and provision of digital trade platform and provision of trade agency services for small and medium-sized enterprises

URL:https://standage.co.jp/

 

[Contact for inquiries regarding this matter] STANDAGE Co., Ltd. Public Relations Officer Tsuruta TEL: 03-6435-3371 E-mail: info@standage.co.jp