Japanese firms need to expand into Africa, a region with high growth potential, to be more competitive internationally. Any company can't be international without thinking of making money across the g

Any company can't be international without thinking of making money across the globe.

Wow! What insight! No wonder Mr Hirano is executive vice pres!

(Sarcasm)

The biggest reason for so many American firms to be globally successful and competitive is due to their ability to easyly adapt to foreign culture. Perhaps thats the advantage they already have being a nation of immigrants.

I seriously doubt this aspect when it comes to Asian and European firms though. Moreover we are not in colonization era anymore. This could be one main reason why Africa is being targetted now. Note that China already has a very strong presence in several African nations. Wonder how Japan will tackle this Chinese domination.

There is only one thing in the way growth in Africa, and that is the cultural acceptance of corruption. So long as this exists, Africa will never develop. It is not just the Africans who are corrupt, but also those foreign companies which purport to help them.

By providing aid to Africa, governments in developed countries can squander money in what appears to be a good cause. The billions spent in exploiting business opportunities in Africa end up mostly in the pockets of business people, bureaucrats, and politicians. And as many people believe that the people of Africa are incapable of improving their lot, no one is surprised or concerned when these programs fail. If people understood that such programs were never designed to succeed in the first place, well....

1) No, Japanese firms DO NOT need to expand into Africa. They need to stay in Japan. 2) No, Japanese firms DO NOT need to be more competitive internationally. They need to provide the Japanese with the goods and services they need. 3) "Making money across the globe" often means fleecing people with goods and services that are a sham. 4) We now know that JETRO is not concerned with the customers of its member companies.

Hirano is right of course.

Problem is, I don't know many salaryman who could handle living in Africa. Do you?

Japanese firms DO NOT need to be more competitive internationally. They need to provide the Japanese with the goods and services they need.

The Japanese companies did that with their phones................ then the iPhone came along and kicked them to the curb, lol