On Dec. 2, the above seminar was held with David S. Abraham, a Hitachi International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Abraham talked about the dynamism of supply and demand of the natural resources in recent years, including rare metals, the policies of Japan, the U.S. and China toward such resources, and risk of future disruptions to price and supply and possible strategies for these risks. Finally, a heated question-and-answer session was held involving all participants. Forty-two people attended.

The above seminar was held on November 29, with Mr. Sanjeev Sinha, President of Sun and Sands Advisors Co. Ltd., and Dr. Masanori Kondo, Senior Associate Professor at International Christian University, as the speakers. Mr. Sinha discussed India’s history and diversity, as well as problems and challenges in promoting Japan-India economic relations from both Japanese and Indian perspectives. Prof. Kondo looked back at the 20 years of history after the liberalization of the Indian economy and explained about important points to keep in mind when Japanese companies enter the Indian market, with reference to examples of companies that are already in the Indian market. Their presentations were followed by a discussion between the two speakers and a question-and-answer session. Some 150 people attended.

Steven C. Wheelwright, a Harvard Business School professor emeritus and president of Brigham Young University - Hawaii, took the opportunity to spoke at a seminar held August 29 by the Keizai Koho Center during his visit to Tokyo.

Based on the results of his analysis of innovation activities by businesses, Dr. Wheelwright explained that a systematic approach tends to have more success. First he said, the project types must be defined, and a strategic mix of projects should be developed. Project priority should be determined and resources allocated accordingly, and then a roadmap should be set for development of the products and services, he explained. He also talked about what types of organization will be appropriate, as well as the characteristics of capable leaders, in executing such projects. Some 80 people attended.

A seminar on “Growing Japan-India Economic Relations” was held on July 20, with Mr. Arun Goyal, minister at the Embassy of India in Tokyo, and Mr. Go Yamada, senior economist at the Japan Center for Economic Research, as the speakers. The seminar was the first in the fiscal 2011 series of study meetings on India organized by the Keizai Koho Center. Mr. Goyal spoke about “Highlights of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and implications for Japan-India Economic Relations” and Mr. Yamada gave a talk on the “Current state of the Indian Economy and important perspectives for Japanese companies.” Their presentations were followed by a discussion between the two speakers based on questions that had been submitted by the audience, as well as a question-and-answer session with the floor. Some 150 people attended.

On June 28, Kwan Chi Hung, a senior fellow at the Nomura Institute of Capital Research, spoke at a seminar organized by the Keizai Koho Center at the Keidanren Kaikan in Tokyo. Kwan analyzed the trends and prospects of the Chinese economy from the perspective of the inflation rate and growth of the gross domestic product. Based on the indicators of the past decade, he pointed out that inflation trend and economic growth are correlative, and concluded that over the short term, China´s inflation rate will gradually fall now that economic growth is decelerating. As for China´s new five-year plan that aims for growth of modest 7 percent, Kwan said China could achieve 9 percent growth if it succeeds in shifting the economy to more advanced sectors, despite the many problems to deal with, such as rural issues, regional disparity, the environment and improvement of public services such as the social security system. He also noted that China is now transforming itself from the world´s factory to the world´s market, making it more important for the business strategy of Japanese companies. This, he added, will lead to closer economic ties between Japan and China. Some 130 people attended.

Expanding markets abroad and stepping up measures to adapt themselves to global society have become an important business strategy, for Japanese companies facing with a shrinking domestic market. Given these circumstances, Keizai Koho Center has decided to hold a series of lectures on overseas public relations activities to help Japanese corporations build favorable relations with diverse stakeholders, including overseas media, and to enhance their market presence.
The first in the series was held on April 20 with Mr. Jochen Legewie, president of an international communications consulting firm, speaking on gFactors for success in overseas public relations activities in the age of globalizationh. In his lecture, Mr. Legewie stressed that, unlike the Japanese media working mainly through the press club system, overseas media do not rely on such systems and that Japanese companies have to pay more attention to building personal relations with foreign reporters. He added that the European media in particular place emphasis on investigative reporting.
On dealing with foreign correspondents in Japan, he also advised that it is effective to try to sell macro-topics that reporters are interested in, such as those on the strong yen, measures to cope with the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima, competition with Chinese corporations. Some 70 people took part in the event.

On April 6, the above lecture was held at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Masahiro Sakane, an acting chairman of the Keizai Koho Center and chairman of Komatsu Ltd., delivered a speech titled "Reorganization of the management structure at Komatsu - improving strengths and reforming weaknesses." The lecture focused on Japanese companie´s activities and initiatives in global society. Held as the 116th session of the university´s historic lecture series arranged by students for their peers, the speech was enthusiastically received by the participants. Attendees asked Sakane many questions relating to concrete examples of reforms in management structure, and his philosophy and ideas as a leader, which led to active exchanges of views. The event helped Chinese students enhance their understanding of the Japanese economy and of the management of Japanese enterprises.

On March 11, the above symposium was held at Keidanren Kaikan. After keynote speeches and introductory statements, speakers discussed “Leader Development and Leadership in Today′s Global Competitive Environment,” with Professor Ohtaki serving as the moderator. The panelists raised the following points: (1) Global human resources are those who are capable of executing business operations and achieving results in a group of people with diverse cultures and backgrounds, (2) the key to global personnel affairs is to select human resources optimal for achieving a mission, regardless of gender or nationality, (3) in developing global business leaders, it is necessary to use different programs for Japanese and non-Japanese participants, and (4) development of leaders cannot be implemented by the personnel affairs department only. Line departments are also required to let go of their outstanding human resources who are leadership candidates, to allow them to build up their careers. In addition, in order to suppress objections from such line departments, board members must get actively involved in the process. Some 130 people took part in the symposium.

The above symposium was held on February 22, jointly with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung of Germany. The speakers talked about the progressing shift of major markets from low-growth industrialized countries to high-growth emerging economies, and took part in discussions on global strategies that corporation in Japan and Germany-two advanced countries that have strengths in the manufacturing industry-should take in response to the changing environment. Citing Ronald Coase′s transaction cost theory, Mr. Geyer described cost analysis used in setting up business overseas. Mr. Hemming noted that, when launching business in other countries, companies should leave the operations to local people, and emphasized that employees are the most valuable asset in corporate management, and that their education and training are of the utmost importance. Mr. Shimakawa stated that a joint venture would work well if a user company, rather than companies in the same line of business, is selected as the partner, and Mr. Pohl explained the differences in management principles between Japan and Germany. Their presentations were followed by lively discussions. Dr.Shigeru Asaba, Professor at Gakushuin University, served as the symposium moderator. Some 100 people attended.

Following the 2010 U.S. midterm elections in which the Republicans took the House of Representatives from the Democrats, the above seminar was held to provide perspectives on how U.S. policymaking and legislative proposals will change. Two partners from the Washington office of the international law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, which is well-versed in policy matters through its bill screenings and litigation, were invited to speak.
With a presidential election to be held next year, the lawyers presented the underlying issues facing both parties in that context. According to them, there will be no big legislative packages passed by Congress during the remainder of Obama´s term. Obama is trying to take a centrist position, moving away from the more progressive ranks of his party, to win back independents for re-election in 2012.
The lawyers also spoke about violations of intellectual property, the reform of the patent system, privacy protection laws, energy-related laws and the increase in lobbying activities in the U.S., which had at one point been on the decline after Obama´s inauguration. Some 80 people attended.