Featured Committee: Asia Business
The ACCJ mission is to contribute to improving the international business environment in Japan, and the Asia Business (AB) Committee contributes to this mission with speaker events which provide timely information on relevant topics in the Asia Pacific region and outreach activities that promote the ACCJ and Asia business in Japan. We proactively pursue co-sponsorships with other ACCJ committees to broaden our networking opportunities, and we engage with external Japanese organizations via advocacy activities to provide committee members with interesting opportunities to experience higher level interaction with decision makers in Asia. The AB Committee continuously develops its network of centers of influence in Japan and in many countries in the Asia Pacific region, providing the committee with extensive information resources with which we can engage in important discussions with ACCJ members and decision makers in Asia.
Influential Speakers
The AB Committee invites experts to speak from the podium during luncheon events. An upcoming example of one of our influential speakers will be on March 27th, 2013. Mr. Rajiv Biswas, Senior Director and Asia Chief Economist at IHS, who will speak on "The Long-term Oil and Gas Outlook: Implications for the Asia-Pacific Economies." Mr. Biswas will address the recent disputes and conflicts between Asian countries over energy resources in the Asia Pacific region. The committee sees the following critical topics in play during 2013: Regional Asian energy and environmental issues, the continuing regional trade negotiations such as the Transpacific Partnership, changing dynamics of regional security in Asia, competition between Asia countries as they try to attract global talent to reinvigorate economic growth, and the need for structural economic reforms in Japan to improve its global competitiveness. Asia is a large dynamic region, and AB works to attract the influential speakers to provide useful information for ACCJ members.
Town House Meetings
To provide more intimate opportunities for information exchange and more relaxed discussion, the AB Committee holds town house type meetings in the ACCJ boardroom. For these meetings, the committee will be inviting interesting guest speakers who will give a short presentation on their area of expertise and introduce an important topic, after which, the meeting will be opened up for discussion and comments. Many of the evening speakers will be Japanese experts who speak Japanese and English, so the discussion can be in either language when possible. In December of 2012, we had a guest speaker who is an American executive of a Japanese company developing a retail presence in China. With the town house speakers, we look for the interesting and unique to achieve a stimulating discussion. If you are not a member of the AB Committee yet, we hope you will attend one our town house type meetings in the ACCJ boardroom to see what we have to offer.
Outreach Activities
During 2013, the AB Committee will also be actively participating in important advocacy activities including issues related to attracting highly skilled workers from Asian countries to Japan. In February, a representative of the AB Committee spoke at an organization under the auspices of METI, this organization is comprised of individuals and organizations that train Asian workers to work in Japanese companies in Asian countries and in Japan. In March, the Committee made a presentation at Sophia University which held an international workshop on "Challenges of Highly Skilled Migration in Asia and the Pacific." The AB Committee will continue extensive engagement with organizations in Japan and Asia; ACCJ members who would be interested in being involved in engagement activities, please feel free to contact the committee leadership for more information. The AB Committee also maintains a LinkedIn group providing event announcements and links to recent articles on Asia-related topics and we encourage everyone interested in Asia to become a member of our LinkedIn group.
We hope you can join our event on March 27th and become involved.
Asia Business Committee
Timothy Connor and Bryan Norton, Co-Chairs
Piyasena Perera, Vice-Chair
