JETRO organizes an online business matching event “JETRO Business Connect” as a part of the Regional Business Conference (RBC) program aiming to attract foreign direct investment in regional areas in Japan. RBC program encourages collaboration between regional companies, academia, and overseas companies, utilizing JETRO’s domestic and international network.
Themes of this year are Health-tech, Factory-tech, and Travel-tech, and JETRO recruited 8 local governments in Japan, of which Miyagi prefecture, Mie prefecture, and Kyoto city are selected for Health-tech, Fukuoka prefecture, Kita-Kyushu city, and Fukuoka city for Factory-tech, and Hokkaido and Kyoto prefecture for Travel-tech.
JETRO also recruited potential overseas companies by the end of October (15 companies by each theme), and an opening pitch event was held on 26 November, where overseas companies presented their products, services, technologies, and expectations for the Japanese market.
Between December 2021 and March 2022, based on the information from the pitch event, local companies and organizations interested in international collaboration will start a business meeting with overseas companies according to mutual agreements, coordinated by each local government.
Cooperating with JETRO Sendai office, Tohoku University supports Miyagi Prefecture to find possible partner candidates from Tohoku University researchers and university-originated startups, expecting further international collaborations between overseas companies and Tohoku University.