ATLANTA BADE FAREWELL LAST WEEK TO ONE OF THE CENTRAL FIGURES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF GEORGIA’S BURGEONING RELATIONSHIP WITH JAPAN. YASUMASA IWASAKI, WHO SERVED AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE JAPAN EXTERNAL TRADE ORGANIZATION (JETRO) SINCE OCTOBER 1989, RETURNED TO JETRO’S HEADQUARTERS IN TOKYO ON APRIL 21.
WHEN MR. IWASAKI FIRST CAME TO ATLANTA HIS PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY WAS TO INCREASE JAPANESE INVESTMENT IN THE SOUTHEAST. BY 1990 THAT ASSIGNMENT CHANGED TO EXPAND IMPORT TRADE AND HE STEERED JETRO TOWARD HELPING REGIONAL COMPANIES EXPORT TO JAPAN – A DISTINCTIVE APPROACH IN VIEW THAT MOST TRADE ORGANIZATIONS HAVE THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF ENCOURAGING EXPORTS FROM THEIR COUNTRIES.
DESPITE THE SHIFT IN EMPHASIS, MR. IWASAKI REMAINED PROUD OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE NUMEROUS JAPANESE COMPANIES WHICH HAVE LOCATED IN GEORGIA. ONE OF THE MOST SATISFYING THINGS HAS BEEN WATCHING JAPANESE COMPANIES BECOME MORE INVOLVED IN THE COMMUNITIES AND BECOME BETTER CORPORATE CITIZENS, AND I EXPECT THAT TREND TO GROW.
SHOJI ISAKI, WHO HAS HAD EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN GERMANY WITH SEVERAL ASSIGNMENTS INCLUDING THOSE TO HAMBURG AND DUSSELDORF, IS REPLACING MR. IWASAKI AS JETRO’S NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. MR. ISAKI ALSO HAS SPENT THE LAST FIVE YEARS AT JETRO’S HEADQUARTERS IN TOKYO, MOST RECENTLY AS DIRECTOR OF THE OVERSEAS ACTIVITIES DEPARTMENT’S COORDINATION DIVISION.
I REALLY ENJOYED PLAYING A PART IN THE ENORMOUS GROWTH OF THE GEORGIA-JAPAN RELATIONSHIP, MR. IWASAKI SAID BEFORE DEPARTING ATLANTA. IN THE FUTURE I LOOK FORWARD TO WATCHING THIS RELATIONSHIP GROW AS ATLANTA MOVES TOWARDS THE OLYMPICS AND MORE GEORGIA COMPANIES ACHIEVE SUCCESS IN THE JAPANESE MARKET.
JETRO’S COMMITTED EMPHASIS ON HELPING GEORGIA COMPANIES EXPORT TO JAPAN IS BORNE OUT BY STATISTICS: OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS, EIGHT IMPORT PRODUCT SPECIALISTS HAVE MET AT LEAST 170 COMPANIES TO PURCHASE SAMPLES FOR JETRO’S NEW IMPORT SHOWCASES. FIVE TRADE MISSIONS HAVE BEEN SENT TO JAPAN AND 11 HAVE BEEN RECEIVED FROM JAPAN.
THE EXPORT TO JAPAN STUDY PROGRAM, ANOTHER JETRO PROGRAM, ALSO HAS SENT EIGHT BUSINESS PEOPLE TO STUDY THE JAPANESE MARKET AND PROMOTE BUSINESS.
FURTHER EVIDENCE OF JETRO’S EFFORTS TO PROMOTE A GROWING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SOUTHEAST AND JAPAN WAS THE INAUGURATION OF JAPAN AIRLINES’ THRICE WEEKLY NON-STOP FLIGHTS TYING TOGETHER ATLANTA AND TOKYO.
PERHAPS MR. IWASAKI’S GREATEST TRIBUTE, HOWEVER, WILL COME FROM THOSE COMPANIES WHICH HAVE SEEN THEIR EXPORTS TO JAPAN GROW. FOR INSTANCE, GEORGE LIU, VICE PRESIDENT OF CONTRAD INTERNATIONAL, AN EXPORT TRADING COMPANY IN ATLANTA SPECIALIZING IN U.S. FURNITURE, SAYS THAT JETRO HELPED CONTRAD ENTER THE JAPANESE MARKET BY ARRANGING FOR IT TO ATTEND THE BIGGEST TRADE SHOWS THERE. MR. IWASAKI ALSO SENT SPECIALISTS FROM TOKYO TO ASSIST US IN PREPARING FOR THE SHOWS. THIS WAS A GREAT HELP, ESPECIALLY AT THE BEGINNING, SAID MR. LIU, WHO ADDED THAT 90 PERCENT OF HIS EXPORT TRADING IS NOW WITH JAPAN AND THAT PROJECTED REVENUES WILL BE MORE THAN $3 MILLION IN 1993.
GLOBALFAX WISHES MR. IWASAKI WELL ON HIS RETURN TO JETRO’S TOKYO OFFICES. THANK YOU, IWASAKI-SAN, FOR YOUR EFFORTS DURING YOUR STAY IN ATLANTA.