Who are the people behind EU-Japan trade missions, cultural events, joint innovation, and dialogue? What is their story and how did they become involved in developing international cooperation?

The EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation is happy to introduce the 7th installment in a series of articles introducing the individuals and organizations making EU-Japan collaboration a reality – an interview with Marta Szczygiel, the Head of the Foreign Trade Office in Tokyo at the Polish Investment and Trade Agency.

Marta Szczygiel, the Head of the Foreign Trade Office in Tokyo at the Polish Investment and Trade Agency

Q: What is your professional background? How did you first get in contact with Japan and its culture?
Marta: I've always been interested in Japan. This is the same for many people, but when I was little in Poland, we had anime. I remember that it was dubbed in Italian because in Poland it was difficult to get the original series. Then I heard for the first time that they were Japanese, so it intrigued me to learn a bit more about Japan. This led me to go into Japanese studies as my major at university and I continued from that point on. I had an opportunity to go on a scholarship to Japan three times in total, including doing my PhD at Osaka University. Even later, when I finished my academic career, I still wanted to have some type of connection with Japan. That is why I shifted towards business, which led me to join the Polish Investment and Trade Agency as the Head of Tokyo Office in 2019.

Q: Looking at your career, you worked as a freelancer in Japan for a while as a writer, researcher and translator. Can you tell us in brief about the challenges of being a freelancer in Japan?
Marta: Well, I have to say that I was a freelancer, but it was not in Japan. I worked as a freelancer in Poland for companies connected to Japan, and that gave me an opportunity to go on long business trips to Japan for training purposes. We would be there for around 3 months - because of the visa, it was not possible to stay longer. That was a really great experience because it gave me an insight on what was happening in Japanese companies, and it was totally different from what I had imagined. In terms of the Japanese freelance market, it is very difficult to start for foreigners. My advice would be to find a job or a place to study before arriving, because you absolutely need a visa to work in Japan. If you want to teach, some English schools sponsor visas, but you must start the process while abroad. Otherwise, if you come to Japan on a tourist visa and you reach out to, let’s say, English schools, or you want to freelance, you won't be able to stay here legally. However, if anybody can afford it, I think it's a good idea to first come visit Japan or maybe do a little gig if you know Japanese. I always say that Japan is one of the best countries to visit, but once you start working in Japan, it is a completely different story. So maybe do not dive in but try to dip in a little bit, and then think about whether you really want to do it or not. That is what freelancing from Poland enabled me to do.

Q: For the last 3 years, you have been working as the Head of Foreign Trade Office in Tokyo at the Polish Investment and Trade Agency. Can you tell us about your mission?
Marta: As the name suggests, our agency has two basic missions: to support Polish companies wanting to expand into foreign markets, and to attract foreign direct investments into Poland. We have more than 50 foreign offices all over the world and I am responsible for the one in Tokyo, which means that we support Polish companies wanting to expand into the Japanese market. This is the main responsibility of the Foreign Trade Office. We belong to the export support department, and this is basically 80% of our job. Another 10% of our job is being the first point of contact when it comes to FDI, so if a Japanese company is considering expanding into Europe and they think Poland might be a good choice - and Poland is the best choice right now, we give them some basic information. We are here in Tokyo, and we speak Japanese, so it is better for Japanese companies to meet us and see their options. I always say that we are like a “madoguchi” for Japanese companies into Poland. As for the remaining 10%... and it is 10% for now, I imagine it will increase pretty soon, it is activities related to the Osaka Expo, because our agency is responsible for the Polish pavilion. Starting next year, it will get very busy in Japan because we have trade missions coming from Poland, with almost every prefecture in Poland putting together a delegation. But at the moment, I would say that 80% is supporting exports, 10% is supporting investment and 10% is supporting EXPO activities.

Q: How does PAIH help Polish companies expand into foreign markets like Japan? 
Marta: We do it by supporting business matching. If one wants to start a business in Japan or to expand into Japan, there are two ways to do so. You can start your own company or open a branch, a legal entity here in Japan. This is one way. The other way is to find a partner, an importer who will import your products. One might think that this way is easier because it does not require starting a company in Japan, but you know, finding partners is very difficult. So we have many connections with importers, and when, for example, a Polish company is selling beef (because Polish beef is pretty hot in Japan and it is #1 when it comes to beef exports from the EU), they contact us, then we prepare a short PR of the company, the products, and their motivation to reach Japan, which we translate into Japanese. Notably, this is not the standard in Poland. Many Polish companies reach out to us and ask us to send them a contact list. They want to contact the companies directly because they believe that this is the best approach. I understand, because as the company owner, as the producer, they know how to PR their product the best. But it is not the way things go in Japan. We do not give our contacts because if we were doing that, they would be spammed by offers that do not meet their criteria. We are always in the middle and we try to first get the offer presented in the best way and offer it to Japanese importers. If they say they are interested in cooperation or want to get more details - at this point, we disclose both e-mail addresses. We connect them, and from that point on, it's basically on them.
Finally, and this is very important - we always say that if you want to find partners in Japan, the best way to do that is to actually come to Japan because it is very important for the Japanese people to see the person, to talk with them, to see the product. For that reason, we try to support Polish companies in coming to Japan. We do not provide any cash grants, but we organize Polish pavilions at different trade fairs, just like the EU-Japan Centre does. If we see a potential for Polish products in a certain sector, we participate in related trade fairs. We recruit companies, and cover all the costs of attending, creating the pavilion and PR materials, and we support with translation and other aspects on site. However, Polish companies have to come to Japan by themselves and pay for their own plane tickets and hotel. We think that this is not only a good way for the companies to come to Japan and showcase their products, but it is also good for Poland in general to have a Polish pavilion at trade fairs to promote the “Polish brand”.

Q: What is your relationship with the EU-Japan Centre? What forms of collaboration have you observed between PAIH and the EU-Japan Centre?
Marta: I think that our approaches are very similar. As I said, the EU-Japan Centre does what we do, but on a much bigger scale. We do similar things, but just for Polish companies because we are a Polish government agency. We have a long list of Polish companies that are interested in Japan divided into sectors, for example, biotech or food companies. When we see a mission from the EU-Japan Centre, we send emails to potentially interested parties because Polish companies are eligible. It is important to grab every opportunity that there is, and having limited resources, we simply rely on your activities as well. Sometimes, when we have a big event, we also ask you to put it in your newsletter. Other times, when we have our own missions, we try to get someone from the Centre to give a speech. We always remember you during our missions because it also shows that Poland is a member of the EU so we want to cooperate as much as we can, because it benefits Polish companies and the Polish economy.

Q: How do you cooperate with other organizations based in Japan to promote your activities?
Marta: We often take part in business seminars organized by other organizations, most of them being investment related. For example, if one of the 3 mega banks makes a seminar and they want to highlight Poland, then we are present. Usually, they focus on either Poland, Hungary or the Czech Republic, as they are the top three countries that Japanese companies are interested in when it comes to investing in the EU right now. Another example, on the 15 November, there was a big event for the Japanese Automotive Importers Association (JAIA), and I was one of the panelists. This is our goal: we need to build our brand. We need to be all over the place and talk about Poland. It does not have to start big, but Japanese people should realize where we are and what we have to offer. So, we cooperate with whoever we can. Of course, we also do some sort of screening, but we are always happy to cooperate with Chambers of Commerce and similar organizations. It takes a long time, but we already see a big improvement when it comes to Poland's position – how people see and recognize Poland.

Q: What is the Poland Pavilion for the Osaka Expo focused on and what do you expect to gain from participation?
Marta: We have a different department that is responsible for the EXPO, and I can say that the start was quite difficult but right now, the pavilion’s construction is gaining momentum. It will be an original Polish pavilion, which is something we are very proud of – we will have it built from scratch. The pavilion will focus on six leading sectors of Polish industry: the cosmetics sector, food and agritech, green energy or green tech (including hydrogen, because Poland is smashing into the hydrogen field), medtech, IT (including fintech and startups), and the gaming sector.
What we want to gain from it - we want to make our brand. When Japanese people know about Poland, it is usually: ‘’Oh, you suffered severely in World War II’’. They have this very dark image of Poland, but right now we have so much more to offer. We want to show Poland as a modern, thriving country and this is also encompassed in our slogan: ‘Heritage that drives the future’. Of course, we have our history, but our history just made us stronger. Some time ago – let’s say 10-20 years ago – Japan had a lot to offer to countries like Poland and it still has. But right now, the situation is changing, and we want to show that we also have a lot to offer to Japan, that we are equal partners.

Q: Would you like to highlight or promote any projects, either past or upcoming, that might be interesting for our subscribers?
Marta: That would definitely be our trade missions to Japan! We organize about four missions per year in industries that Poland is strong in and that have potential on the Japanese market. This year we organized missions in the cosmetic, IT and startup sectors. For our missions, we organize a Polish Pavilion at significant trade fairs, create promotional materials and invite our network for B2B meetings among other activities set to maximize the potential of our participants to find Japanese partners. Next year, however, we will concentrate on the Polish participation at the 2025 Osaka, Kansai Expo. For information about available programs for economic promotion, please see the following: https://expo.gov.pl/?lang=en

Q: As a final question, how do you see the current relations between Poland and Japan in the forthcoming years in terms of business and trade?
Marta: Poland sees Japan as one of our strongest allies in Asia and the good relationship translates to business relations, which are growing stronger each year. We hope to decrease the trade deficit of Polish exports to Japan in the forthcoming years as well as attract more Japanese investments to Poland. One of the sectors of special interest is the energy industry – for example, Poland is the 3rd hydrogen producer in the EU and in 2023 Poland and Japan signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of hydrogen. I hope that more Japanese companies put Poland on their radar, because we are worth it!

Thank you very much Marta, for your availability and enthusiasm in this interview, it has been a real pleasure!
(Interview held in November 2024)

Curious about the previous interview with our with H.E. André J. Spiteri,the Ambassador of the Republic of Malta to Japan. Click here!