MPR’s Andrew Haeg reports on political and business commentary regarding trade with Japan. Minnesota business leaders and experts on Japan convened to discuss the opportunities and challenges of doing business in Japan. The country is Minnesota's second-largest trading partner, and the state's exports to Japan are growing.
The CEO's of some of Minnesota's largest companies say they're optimistic about business prospects in Japan, but they also expressed concern about the deep problems facing the Japanese. The symposium was sponsored by the Minnesota International Center. Speakers included former Vice President Walter Mondale and ex-ambassador Tom Foley, who discussed the impact of the recent change in Japan's government.
Transcripts
text | pdf |
ANDREW HAEG: An international symbol of productivity and prosperity in the 1980s. Japan spent the '90s mired in stagnation. By now, the country suffers from a national debt equal to 18% of the entire world's economic output, a weak yen, and banks that are drowning in bad loans. Yet, exports from Minnesota to Japan grew last year alone by 24% to $900 million.
Northwest Airlines CEO Richard Anderson says Japan has always been a pillar of his company's business. Northwest was the first Minnesota company to do business in post-war Japan and is now the largest carrier flying between the US and Japan. Despite Japan's economic troubles, he's optimistic.
RICHARD ANDERSON: Bottom line for us, while we see short-term cyclicality, we think, over the long term, it's a very strong market for Northwest, and it has been really the backbone of profitability in previous decades for this airline. And we believe it will be, once again, a very, very profitable piece of our network.
ANDREW HAEG: Leaders in other industries are not as sanguine. An aging population and a disinclination to have children mean Japan is actually shrinking. That means fewer mouths to feed, which concerns Cargill CEO Warren Staley.
WARREN STALEY: We have to see how that goes. That'll have a huge impact on any business opportunities. We also know, as part of those demographic changes and an aging population, we have seen a decline in agriculture in Japan, even against measures to try to prevent the decline.
ANDREW HAEG: The work of reversing Japan's fortunes is now largely the responsibility of Junichiro Koizumi, who was elected prime minister in April. Koizumi pledged to shake up the country's entrenched and intransigent power groups, which many in Japan blame for the country's woes.
WALTER MONDALE: We should be sober right at the outset and realize we got a lot of work to do.
ANDREW HAEG: Former Vice President Walter Mondale served as ambassador to Japan from 1993 to 1996 and saw the country's economy sputter firsthand. He says Koizumi is facing some awesome challenges.
WALTER MONDALE: His agenda is very tough, and what he's got to do could make him very unpopular in a hurry, and he has to do all of it with a decision-making process and tradition in Japan that does not bend easily to strong, bold, majority-rule kinds of impositions.
ANDREW HAEG: The Japanese have put a great deal of their faith in Koizumi's ability to resurrect Japan. Witness his approval rating, which stands close to 90%.
TOM FOLEY: A high popularity can be a curse, not a blessing.
ANDREW HAEG: Tom Foley is former speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He served as ambassador to Japan from 1997 until two months ago. He said he's happy the country chose a reformer, but he says the new prime minister would be better off if people had more modest expectations, if Koizumi's approval rating dropped to a more sustainable level.
TOM FOLEY: If he can have 55% over a period of time, that would be very useful in Japan to give him the ability to use public support to effect change. And I think from that standpoint, there is a real possibility of new hope and reform in Japan.
ANDREW HAEG: Businesses in Minnesota and the rest of the United States will be watching Koizumi to see if his proposed reforms can keep the world's second-largest economy from slipping any further. I'm Andrew Haeg-- Minnesota Public Radio.
SPEAKER: Lu Wang was--