Osaka Innovation Hub Interview: The attractions of doing business in Osaka

©Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau

Earlier this year, Masako Eguchi, CEO of Ocean Bridge Management (OBM) was interviewed by Osaka Innovation Hub on the attractions of doing business in Osaka from the perspective of Thames Valley (UK) and discussed the reasons behind the close business and trade relationship between the Thames Valley region of the UK and the Osaka / Kansai region in Japan.

Osaka Innovation Hub (OIH) is the Osaka City government-backed startup community.  OIH supports the area’s fast-growing technology ecosystem and focuses on international startups, media and investment with an incubation/acceleration program for startups which want to establish and grow their business in the Kansai region of Japan.  We have reported on the Osaka startup ecosystem in this Insight article .

The Thames Valley has a very close relationship with Kansai.  The exchange of information and delegations at a government-academia-industry level started in 2012, and following that a milestone came in 2014, when Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) and Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce (TVCC) signed an MOU for mutual collaboration. This regional business tie has also produced tangible benefits, including the creation of concrete business opportunities.  With the Thames Valley (UK) - Kansai relationship, OBM has brought together two regions with the second largest economies in their countries respectively.

In the interview, Masako discusses how mutual trust between individuals is important in building strong business relationships.  The openness of the people of the Kansai region is one of the reasons which makes Osaka one of the easiest places in Japan for a foreign company to start a business.  At OBM we understand the importance of trust in business relationships and we are always looking for new ways to bring people together to build new business relationships and opportunities.

OBM (Ocean Bridge Management) creates global business opportunities with a speciality in Japan, UK and Europe, based on our extensive network of government, industry and academia.  We have created and supported an ecosystem of regional relationships, where government, industry and academia can collaborate and create new opportunities for your ideas to shape the world.

Click here for a link to the interview transcript on the Osaka Innovation Hub website.

If you would like to learn more about starting a business in Japan, please contact us here.