As a governmental entity, the Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, Japan (SMRJ) supports overseas companies that are seeking to develop new products, establish joint ventures and technical cooperation with Japanese SMEs, or that are simply considering purchasing products from local SMEs. Within this aim, SMRJ offers a free-of-charge business matching support, the “CEO Business Meeting”, to help overseas companies’ CEOs meet their counterparts in Japanese SMEs. For the past ten years, SMRJ has arranged business meetings, both online and on-site, for two thousand companies, mainly from Asia. The negotiation success rate of the meetings held last year was over 70%, with many business deals achieved, covering exports, new product development, joint developments, technology collaborations, and establishment of joint ventures. Starting this year, with the support of the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation, SMRJ will be widening the range of its “CEO Business Meetings” support toward companies based in Europe as well. This region is of most interest for Japanese SME companies that are highly motivated to collaborate. SMRJ is planning three “CEO Business Meeting” events next year targeting very specific sectors.

Eco-Tech CEO Business Meeting
Target sectors: new energy, energy-saving machines and systems, new materials, urban development, and de-carbonization.

The innovative Industry CEO Business Meeting 
Target sectors: aerospace, robotics, industrial machines, IT, AI, factory automation, and EV. 

The medical CEO Business Meeting
Target sectors: medical equipment, healthcare, and nursing.

SMRJ is looking forward to the participation of many overseas companies looking for collaboration with Japanese SMEs. For more information, interested companies can contact SMRJ’s marketing support department: ceo-network@smrj.go.jp 

Source: SMRJ