************************************************************************* Issue 32 [April 2009] OCCI e-Magazine http://www.osaka.cci.or.jp/e/index.html ************************************************************************* [CONTENTS, April 2009] 1. Chairman's Message to OCCI Councilors 2. Trends of Economy 3. FY 2009 OCCI International Division Staffers and their Regions 4. Opening of Hanshin Namba Line 5. OCCI International Division report on VIP visitors ========================================================================= 1. Chairman's Message to OCCI Councilors At the 2nd Ordinary General Meeting of OCCI Councilors held on March 27th 2009, Chairman Nomura gave his message for Fiscal 2009 (April 2009 - March 2010) with more specifics compared with the New Year's Message, the gist of which is introduced hereunder for the Readers' information: Following on FY 2008, OCCI continues its aim as an 'indispensable' economic organization with emphasis on revitalization of regional economy and support to members' business management. First, we will continue to steadily and actively carry out the "Plan to Create Liveliness in Osaka". In FY2009, we will keep working on the 34 Actions of the Action Plan II focusing our efforts on promotion of 'Environment-friendly New Products-making Industries' and 'Life Science Industry', as well as on more particular projects such as 'Exam for Certification on (the knowledge of) Osaka' or 'Food-brands of Osaka'. We will also continue to make active representation to the central and regional governments for improvement on infrastructure for freer flows of human resources and goods for further development of new industries. Second is the strengthening of our activities to support SMEs (small and medium enterprises) particularly the support to business management widely extended at the OCCI branches to further conduct our guidance or consultation meetings concerning administrative support systems or preferential taxation etc. We will also continue our representation activities for policy proposals to contribute to improvement of SMEs' business environment. Third, we will continue our best efforts to maintain or expand our membership of 30,000 as the source of power for consolidation of our organizational base. Through the full utilization of OCCI services and projects by larger numbers of member companies or others engaged in commerce and industry, we will be able to maintain and expand our solid membership. We will also continue to strengthen our compliance system in FY 2009. ======================================================================== 2. Trends of Economy The economy of Japan remains most cloudy with severe phases in most areas. The quick report on the GDP of FY 2008's 3rd quarter (Oct.-Dec. 2008) records a sharp decline of 12.7% (annualized) and all statistical indexes on exports, domestic consumption, production, investment, employment etc. are rapidly deteriorating. Similarly, the economic environment for companies in the Osaka-Kansai region remains most severe with drastic drops in the export-reliant manufacturers' production, consequent restructuring or layoffs, worsening financial difficulties of SMEs etc. According to the Business Survey Index (BSI: Corporate leaders' overall business sentiments surveyed by OCCI and Kansai Economic Federation), Osaka-based heads of companies are feeling more depressed than ever with the outlook of 'down' far exceeding the prospect for 'up' for the FY 2008's 4th quarter (Jan.-Mar. 2009) compared with the 3rd. For further beyond, the majority foresees the economy will continue "to crawl on the bottom" with large downs continuing with only few ups hoped for. On the other hand, looking on the brighter side of things, some large investments in the major projects have already been made, such as the construction of complexes for state-of-the-art production concentrated on the Osaka Bay Area, successive openings of Keihan's Nakanoshima Line and the most recent Hanshin Namba Line, as well as events of this year like the "International Festival UTAGE (meaning 'feasts or banquets') 2009 in Osaka" (Apr.30-May.10) and "Aqua Metropolis OSAKA 2009" (Aug.22-Oct.12). Domestic Trends of Economy (BSI indexes) (Business sentiment expressed by Osaka/Kansai companies surveyed) Results Prediction Jul-Sep 08 Oct-Dec 08 Jan-Mar 2009 Apr-Jun 09 Jul-Sep 09 Totals -66.2 -83.1 -87.9 -65.3 -39.2 Large Corps -64.1 -87.8 -90.7 -62.8 -33.5 SMEs -67.6 -80.1 -86.1 -66.9 -42.6 * The above BSI indexes show the differences between the plus and minus trends as compared with those of preceding 3 months. (Source: the 33rd Economic Survey by OCCI/ Kansai Economic Federation) ======================================================================== 3. FY 2009 OCCI International Division Staffers and their Regions ******************************* OCCI International Division Tel : 81-(0)6-6944-6400 Fax : 81-(0)6-6944-6293 E-mail : intl@osaka.cci.or.jp ******************************* - Director : Mr. Yasutsugu KOHZUKI - Deputy Director : Mr. Shinji MARUYAMA - Manager : Ms. Kazuko KAMADO [O-BIC] URL : http://o-bic.net/ E-mail : o-bic@osaka.cci.or.jp Contact Persons : Ms. Kazuko KAMADO, Ms. Yu LIANG - Regions [China] Ms. Noriko FUJITA, Mr. Masatoshi TANAKA, Mr. Kazunari JYO [Chinese Taipei, Korea, Hong Kong (China), Central Asia] Mr. Masatoshi TANAKA [ASEAN] Ms. Chika TSUETANI [South West Asia] Ms. Noriko FUJITA [North & South America],[Africa],[Oceania] Ms. Yumiko NAGOSHI [West & East Europe],[Russia, CIS],[Middle East] Mr. Ryosuke SHIMIZU ======================================================================== 4. Opening of Hanshin Namba Line -for connection from Kobe/Osaka through to Nara- On March 20th 2009, Hanshin Namba Line was opened for direct connection from Kobe/Osaka to Nara greatly adding to the Osaka-Kansai region's economic effects through the linkage between Japan's 3 tourist-popular cities of Kobe, Osaka and Nara. The opening also significantly serves to enhance the recognition of Osaka/Namba as the terminal city for various locations of Kansai like Kobe, Nara, Wakayama etc. The Hanhin Namba Line connects Kobe-Osaka/Namba direct without any transfer in about 40 minutes, and daily serves 80 runs between Kobe and Nara. In addition to Keihan's New Nakanoshima Line that was opened in October 2008, the Hanshin Namba Line further consolidates the Osaka-Kansai's railway network for further promotion of intercity exchange activities. Hanshin Namba Line (in Japanese only) http://www.hanshin.co.jp/nambasen/ ======================================================================== 5. OCCI International Division report on VIP visitors * April 7 (Tue) Mr. Major General Sanan Kajornprasart, Deputy Prime Minister Kingdom of Thailand * April 15 (Wed) Mr. Bozidar Djelic , Deputy Prime Minister Republic of Serbia Mr. Ivan MRKIC, Ambassador Embassy of the Republic of Serbia ========================================================================